Protein from air in production by 2020

From animals to plants to stem cells, and now from air, the sources of protein have certainly moved into an exciting stage from when the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the VTT Technical Centre of Finland announced the production of single cell protein using only carbon dioxide and electricity in July 2017. In March this year, the Finnish company Solar Foods Oy said it would take the concept into commercial production in 2020, according to VTT.

“We are starting test production in Finland this year, and are applying to the European Union for approval as a novel food whose testing will take a few years. At the same time, we will begin testing the manufacturing of consumer products with our partners,” says company founder and technology director, D.Sc. (Tech.) Juha-Pekka Pitkänen.

“Our goal is to develop the protein into a high-quality product whose environmental impact will be 10-100 times smaller than those of meat products or their substitutes currently in the market,” says D.Sc. (Tech.) Pasi Vainikka, the company’s incoming CEO.

Highly nutritious, cheap and environmentally friendly

The manufacture of protein from air will not be dependent on agriculture, climate and weather, Solar Foods said. The good news is that the price would be competitive compared to other sources like soy protein.

Solar Foods’ round of investment was led by Lifeline Ventures. The other investors were VTT Ventures Oy and Green Campus Innovations Oy. In addition to capital investment, the company was granted a development and piloting loan by Business Finland.

“Solar Foods will take the environmental requirements of food production to an entirely new level, and can do it in a way that is competitive in terms of cost and can be sized to a large scale,” says Lifeline Ventures partner Juha Lindfors.