Farm-free food: Why depend on photosynthesis for everything we eat?
“Such ‘food without the farm’ could avoid enormous quantities of climate-warming emissions while also safeguarding biodiverse lands that might otherwise be cleared for farms.”
With the net zero deadline less than 27 years away, achieving carbon neutrality is proving to be a challenging task, according to experts. The United Nations (UN) has been spotlighting the issue for decades now.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that the climate crisis was ‘out of control.’ Cautioning the world leaders, he stated: “If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrate.”
Recently, researchers at the University of California in Irvine have been addressing the climate crisis by focusing their study on curbing agricultural emissions. They explored solutions involving large-scale synthetic production of dietary fats using chemical and biological methods.
Utilizing natural elements without conventional agricultural methods
This production process relies on foundational blocks similar to those used by plants, mainly hydrogen in water and carbon dioxide in the air, according to a statement by the university.
Deploying these natural elements helped researchers devise synthetic fats without the requirement of traditional agricultural resources.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that agricultural emissions usually result from fertilizer use, livestock digestion, and manure management.
The agency clarified that nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are emitted from soil management (over half), methane (CH4) from livestock digestion (over a quarter), and manure management (about 11 percent).
Minor emissions include CO2 from various sources and additional CH4 and N2O from specific agricultural activities from liming and urea application to rice cultivation and burning crop residues.
Steven Davis, UCI Professor of Earth System Science, explained that large-scale synthesis of edible molecules through chemical and biological means without agricultural feedstocks is a very real possibility.
“Such ‘food without the farm’ could avoid enormous quantities of climate-warming emissions while also safeguarding biodiverse lands that might otherwise be cleared for farms.”
Encouraging ‘farm-free food’
The research justified the need for ‘farm-free food’ in the study, noting that such a production method could offer several advantages.
The pros include reduced water use, local food control, a stable supply, improved labor conditions, and the potential to restore farmlands – enhancing biodiversity and serving as natural carbon sinks.
Davis additionally accentuated the possibility of returning existing farmlands to a natural state, which could enhance biodiversity and build up natural carbon sinks, the statement said.
“I like the idea of not depending on photosynthesis for everything we eat,” he expressed. “At whatever scale, synthesizing food will alleviate competition between natural ecosystems and agriculture, thereby avoiding the many environmental costs of farming.”
The study was conducted at the University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with institutions such as Carnegie Institution for Science, Orca Sciences, University of Waterloo, and Tsinghua University.
The team of scientists stressed their research on fats because they are the easiest nutrients to synthesize thermochemically. They referred to well-established large-scale techniques used in soap-making and polymer chemistry.
Upon experimentation, the researchers found that fats emanating from agricultural sources result in approximately one to three grams of emitted carbon dioxide per thousand calories.
However, fats that are chemically identical to those synthesized from natural gas feedstock, when produced using existing electricity, would yield less than a gram of CO2 equivalent emissions.
Moreover, if carbon capture technology and emissions-free electricity sources were utilized, the emissions would be nearly zero.
Davis acknowledged the complexity, remarking that food poses a greater challenge than electricity. While people aren’t concerned about the source of electricity in their sockets, the origin of their food matters significantly to many.
“Processed foods are thus a likely use for synthetic fats. Folks may be less concerned about what kind of fat is in a store-bought cookie or pie crust because they don’t know what’s in there right now.”
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