Alternative proteins climb the slope of enlightenment

Photo by LikeMeat on Unsplash

"We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium." - Winston Churchill

Animals are a wildly inefficient means of producing edible protein.

Cattle consume roughly 25 calories of plant material for every calorie of edible protein they produce. Even chickens, the most efficient form of livestock, eat around 10 calories of food for every calorie of edible protein produced.

All this extra energy comes at a cost, in particular a significant carbon footprint. The production of meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy accounts for ~15% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (8.1 Gt CO2e). Around half of these emissions are the result of livestock belching and farting, one-quarter is due to land-use changes (e.g. deforestation), with the remainder arising from the growth in animal feed and other parts of the supply chain (e.g. transport, storage).

As the global population continues to grow and incomes rise, total emissions from animal-based protein are expected to grow. Although the demand for basic foods like cereals peaks at early levels of development, typically when GDP per capita is under $5,000, the demand for foods high in animal protein tends to climb as countries shift from low to middle income levels. Consumption of animal based protein in Asia (excl. China) and Sub-Saharan Africa is around 10-20 grams per capita per day (g/cap/day). However, in Europe and North America it jumps to around 50-60 g/cap/day. As less developed economies also adopt Western diets the environmental impact is likely to grow.¹

Alternative sources of protein including plant-based proteins (e.g. Beyond Meat, Quorn sausages), micro-organism based proteins (via fermentation), and animal-cell-based protein (i.e., lab grown) have been developed in response to these concerns. Plant-based burgers typically have a carbon footprint 25-times lower than the global average emissions associated with producing beef.²

According to BCG, plant-based alternative proteins (excluding micro-organism and cell-based proteins) have the best emissions savings return on capital employed of any green investment. The reduction in emissions has a 3X better return than an equivalent green technology investment in the cement industry, and 10X better than directing climate capital to the light road transport or shipping sectors.