From farming to fermentation: how New Zealand could ‘brew up’ new foods to reduce agricultural emissions

<https://theconversation.com/from-farming-to-fermentation-how-new-zealand-could-brew-up-new-foods-to-reduce-agricultural-emissions-192934>

"New Zealand agriculture contributed 50% of the country’s greenhouse gas
emissions in 2020, an unusually high proportion by world standards. Dairy
farming was responsible for about half of the 39.1 megatonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalent (CO₂-eq) emitted, or 25% of all emissions.

Addressing the problem of New Zealand’s agricultural emissions has mainly
focused on technical fixes aimed at reducing methane and nitrous oxide produced
by livestock and fertiliser and relying on voluntary agreements with the
industry.

But these measures may not result in substantial emissions reductions any time
soon. Reductions of less than 1% are predicted according to one analysis of a
government/industry accord, which forms the basis of a recently announced
pricing scheme for agricultural emissions.

Exploring alternatives to conventional farming is therefore timely and urgent.
One such alternative with the potential to drastically reduce agricultural
emissions – while at the same time helping restore ecological quality – is to
use fermentation technology.

This would allow some yet-to-be-determined proportion of dairy and meat farming
to be replaced by “precision fermentation” of high-protein products, a process
akin to brewing.

It might seem like a radical step for a traditional agricultural nation, but
given the urgency of the problem, New Zealand needs to consider it at least."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics