這家公司說他們用“稀薄的空氣”制造食物

這家公司說他們用“稀薄的空氣”制造食物

In Finland, scientists are making an entirely new ingredient out of air, water and electricity -- and they hope it could revolutionize the way our food is produced.

在芬蘭，科學家們正在從空氣、水和電中制造一種全新的成分，他們希望這能徹底改變我們生產(chǎn)食物的方式。

Feeding an ever-growing population is putting a huge strain on the Earth's resources.

養(yǎng)活不斷增長的人口對地球資源造成了巨大的壓力。

Agriculture is one of the world's largest sources of greenhouse gases, with animal farming in particular responsible for 14.5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from beef and dairy cattle.

農(nóng)業(yè)是世界上最大的溫室氣體來源之一，尤其是畜牧業(yè)，其溫室氣體排放量占全球的14.5%，主要來自牛肉和奶牛。

On top of that, farming uses vast areas of land that might otherwise be home to carbon-storing forests; it also guzzles huge amounts of water -- up to 70% of water-use worldwide, according to the OECD.

最重要的是，農(nóng)業(yè)使用了大片土地，而這些土地原本可能是儲存碳的森林的家園;它還消耗大量的水——根據(jù)經(jīng)濟合作與發(fā)展組織(OECD)的數(shù)據(jù)，高達全球用水量的70%。

But a Helsinki-based company is trying to change that.

但一家總部位于赫爾辛基的公司正試圖改變這種狀況。

"In order to save the planet from climate change, we need to disconnect food production from agriculture," says Pasi Vainikka, CEO of Solar Foods.

“為了拯救地球免受氣候變化的影響，我們需要切斷糧食生產(chǎn)與農(nóng)業(yè)的聯(lián)系，”太陽能食品公司的首席執(zhí)行官帕西·瓦尼卡說。

Protein powder
蛋白粉

At its pilot plant, the start-up is developing a new natural source of protein it calls Solein. Like other protein supplements, it has no discernible taste and can be added to almost any snack or meal. But Solar Foods says its product will have have a tiny carbon footprint.

在它的試驗廠，這家初創(chuàng)公司正在開發(fā)一種新的天然蛋白質(zhì)來源，它稱之為Solein。和其他蛋白質(zhì)補充劑一樣，它沒有明顯的味道，幾乎可以添加到任何零食或膳食中。但是太陽能食品公司表示，他們的產(chǎn)品將有一個微小的碳足跡。

Solein is made by growing a microbe in liquid in a fermentation tank. It's similar to the process used in breweries, but instead of feeding it sugars, as you would when brewing beer, Solar Foods' microbe eats only hydrogen bubbles, carbon dioxide, nutrients and vitamins.

Solein是通過在發(fā)酵罐的液體中培養(yǎng)微生物而制成的。它與啤酒廠的生產(chǎn)過程相似，但不像啤酒釀造時那樣給微生物喂糖，太陽能食品的微生物只吃氫氣泡、二氧化碳、營養(yǎng)素和維生素。

Solar Foods makes hydrogen by applying electricity to water, and sources carbon dioxide by extracting it from air -- which is why the company describes Solein as being "food out of thin air." All this is powered by renewable energy, minimizing the product's carbon footprint.

太陽能食品通過將向水中通電來制造氫氣，通過從空氣中提取二氧化碳——這就是為什么該公司將Solein描述為“稀薄空氣中的食物”。所有這些都是由可再生能源驅(qū)動的，最大限度地減少了產(chǎn)品的碳足跡。

"You end up with a powder that is about 65 percent protein and carbs and fats," Vainikka told CNN.

瓦尼卡對CNN說：“最終得到粉末大約含有65%的蛋白質(zhì)、碳水化合物和脂肪的。”

That powder could be added to things like bread and pasta, or to plant-based meat or dairy substitutes. One day, it could even be used as a food source for lab-grown meat, he says.

這種粉末可以添加到面包和面食中，或者添加到植物性肉類或奶制品的替代品中。他說，有一天，它甚至可以作為實驗室培養(yǎng)的肉類的食物來源。

Solar Foods claims production of Solein is 100 times more climate friendly than meat and 10 times better than plant-based proteins, as well as using much less water.

太陽能食品聲稱Solein的生產(chǎn)對氣候的友好性是肉類的100倍，是植物性蛋白質(zhì)的10倍，并且使用更少的水。

Scaling up
擴大規(guī)模

The company was founded in 2017, made up of former scientists from Finland's national research institute.

該公司成立于2017年，由芬蘭國家研究所的前科學家組成。

Its pilot plant is able to produce about a kilo of dry protein powder per day, and Vainikka says it can match the price of existing plant or animal protein ingredients, with "a production cost of $5-$6 per kilogram of 100 percent protein."

它的試驗工廠每天能夠生產(chǎn)大約1公斤干蛋白粉，瓦尼卡說，它可以與現(xiàn)有的植物或動物蛋白質(zhì)成分的價格相匹配，“每公斤100%蛋白質(zhì)的生產(chǎn)成本為5-6美元”

It aims to have Solein on the market and in millions of meals by 2021, but before then it needs to scale-up from pilot plant to major commercial production, and Solein needs regulatory approval for human consumption.

該公司的目標是到2021年將Solein投入市場，并在數(shù)百萬份食品中使用，但在此之前，公司需要從試驗工廠擴大到大規(guī)模的商業(yè)生產(chǎn)，而且Solein還需要得到監(jiān)管部門的批準才能用于人類消費。