This is important research that needs to be done. However, this is an expected result at this stage. This technology has not been scaled up and has not been optimized - it would be premature to do so at this point. I’m sure if and when this becomes viable at mass scale, more substantial efforts will be made in reducing CO2 output.
New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
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Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have to explain to me what this: > Livestock is grown in parts of the world on stuff which cannot be sold or which grows on its own - example: grass etc. Has to do with CO2 produced from raising livestock? I can't connect the two in my head, there's some missing information here I don't have.
Haven't you heard the argument that livestock raising releases methane/CO2 etc?
The argument? It's not an argument - livestock does produce CO2. It is a fact. I don't eat meat partially for this reason.
I still have no idea what it means with regards to your original statement.
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#23Livestock is grown in parts of the world on stuff which cannot be sold or which grows on its own - example: grass etc. How in the world is lab grown meat going to compete with that in terms of efficiency, CO2 emissions etc?
Because making calories from livestock that grazes on grass is terribly inefficient, which is why we:
1. put them into small boxes usually, which creates a big nitrogen problem (mixing urine and shit is bad news)
2. feed them other stuff, usually made of soy which is grown in burned down rainforests
3. grow the grass with artificial fertilizers (made out of natural gas) and use pesticides, which also requires gasoline (to power machines)
If we're not even talking the CO2e emissions including methane, or the land use, pollution etc then for each calorie of cow you produce you could also create 25 plant based calories. The problem is a lot of people don't want to (only) eat plant based stuff, so we are coming up with ways to manufacture something in a lab that tastes similar to meat.
There are several ways to beat the natural process, which is really not that efficient at all and involves a lot of negative effects on the environment even if we disregard animal suffering. I mean, it does make sense if you think about it from first principles: a cow doesn't only turn grass into meat and milk, but also needs to move, to reproduce, it needs to power its brain, etc. We should be able to save a lot of energy in a lab not doing all those things and become vastly more efficient than what the cow does. And we could build a mass production process that is way more easier to manage than cattle and slaughterhouses. That is the theory.
The vast, vast majority of meat is grown on land which we can put to better use. The tiny amount of livestock that can be put on a natural rotational grazing system in a sound way making use of land that has no better purpose is so, so small, we shall be eating one burger a year at most from that system.
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#24Or we could switch to eating plants now. We already get 82% calories and 63% proteins from plants. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets We could stay on our 1% of habitable earth, lower our agricultural footprint from 48% of land to 15%, use quarter of pesticides,…
Good luck enforcing a world-wide “plant-only” diet. I know people who would go to war just over that.
They are already at war against nature
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#25Or we could switch to eating plants now. We already get 82% calories and 63% proteins from plants. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets We could stay on our 1% of habitable earth, lower our agricultural footprint from 48% of land to 15%, use quarter of pesticides,…
Good luck enforcing a world-wide “plant-only” diet. I know people who would go to war just over that.
I wouldn't. Instead I would simply switch to cannibalism, and start eating vegetarians :)
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#26Or we could switch to eating plants now. We already get 82% calories and 63% proteins from plants. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets We could stay on our 1% of habitable earth, lower our agricultural footprint from 48% of land to 15%, use quarter of pesticides,…
Good luck enforcing a world-wide “plant-only” diet. I know people who would go to war just over that.
Why does everything have to be all-or-nothing? Start by stop subsidizing meat.
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#27Or we could switch to eating plants now. We already get 82% calories and 63% proteins from plants. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets We could stay on our 1% of habitable earth, lower our agricultural footprint from 48% of land to 15%, use quarter of pesticides,…
Good luck enforcing a world-wide “plant-only” diet. I know people who would go to war just over that.
Why do you go directly to the extreme implementation? No one said anything about "enforcement". There are ways to push society towards a better paradigm without enforcement. We also shouldn't let the lowest common denominator have a say in the direction of society. People that "would go to war" over the fact that they should eat less red meat are not exactly of sound mind.
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#28But it'll enable a new class of industry to become uber wealthy, that has to be worth something, right?
Re: New study suggests that lab-grown meat produces up to 25 times more CO2
#29Or we could switch to eating plants now. We already get 82% calories and 63% proteins from plants. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets We could stay on our 1% of habitable earth, lower our agricultural footprint from 48% of land to 15%, use quarter of pesticides,…
Good luck enforcing a world-wide “plant-only” diet. I know people who would go to war just over that.
Black-and-white thinking, think in gradients!
You eat meat X times a week? Try X -1 or more.
Even a little bit helps tremendously. Everyone reading this who eat meat every day, try cutting down even one day, it will help.