Sounds way too dystopian to be trustworthy, and there's no explanation why I would even WANT to eat this.
It's made out of air my good person.
Solein – Protein out of thin air
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Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#12From 2020, so not sure how up to date this is:
“Solar Foods is a Finland-based start-up company that utilises CO2 captured from air, water and some minerals as sole raw materials to produce a protein powder using renewable electricity.
Branded as Solein®, the product is a microbial protein (also referred to as single cell protein, SCP) obtained by growing proprietary bacteria harvested from nature, in specially designed bioreactors using gas fermentation.”
https://ifst.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fsat.3...
Not that surprising that you won’t find the word “bacteria” anywhere on a marketing site, but wish they were at least more up front with exactly how their process is “more efficient than plants”.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#13I need more details than that, but looks very interesting:
“HOW SOLEIN IS MADE Solein® is made from natural single-cell organisms, which are grown in a fermentation process. Water is split from the air with renewable electricity into hydrogen and oxygen. The cells are fed CO2 from the air, hydrogen and mineral nutrients.
These microorganisms are then able to make amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids (fats), and vitamins. They do the heavy lifting in this process. We are only letting their microscopic lives fulfil their purpose: procreation and diversification.
When it's time to harvest the Solein, the excess water is removed, and then it is finally dried into a fine protein powder, with no plants or animals harmed in the process.”
PS: fulfill (sic)
PS2: I'm sure the similarity of the name with soylent green is not lost on the marketing team, I'm just surprised they found it beneficial.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#14This is the first time I’ve encountered the term “single-cell protein”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-cell_protein
Ok, so they're growing some kind of microorganism. But I feel like for years I heard that spirulina would become an important tool for feeding the planet ... but mostly the people that consume it do so in pretty small amounts, and it doesn't seem to be taking over the world.
From a skim, the site doesn't actually say what organism they're growing. Why is it more likely to be impactful than others?
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#15soylent green is air!!!
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Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#16This is the first time I’ve encountered the term “single-cell protein”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-cell_protein
> SCP represents options of fail-safe mass food-production which can produce food reliably even under harsh climate conditions.
Let's hope we can beat some sense into ourselves before we get there.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#17>Seriously. Solein® is a unique single-cell protein made with a fully natural fermentation process. Using just air and electricity as its primary raw materials, Solein is the most sustainable protein in the world. so..... instead of "wasting" time in spending water and soil and fertilizer into making plants that use solar energy to create "food", we skip that step and just use electricity that is generated from solar…
I’d guess it is because either photosynthesis isn’t actually that efficient, and/or a lot of the energy goes into growing structural elements of the plant.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#18Sounds way too dystopian to be trustworthy, and there's no explanation why I would even WANT to eat this.
If it's a more sustainable, cruelty-free source of protein than is currently available, and if it's safe, why not? There are multiple big "if" statements there, but should they all pass, I'd be all for it.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#19Can someone explain the need for the word 'thin'?
"Out of thin air" is a common idiom[0]. Probably not needed, but not an unusual thing to say in this context either. [0] https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/out+of+thin+air
On the other hand, "heavy water" is a molecule different than "usual" water. One shouldn't drink heavy water.
Re: Solein – Protein out of thin air
#20I understand it's fake (what is the carbon source? it is stated to be CO_2 neutral) but I guess I don't understand the point or punchline.
edit: as pointed out below and elsewhere, the carbon source is CO2, and I misinterpreted the way CO2 neutral is used here, my bad. However there are serious questions to ask about how they are representing and overselling their process. It is a complete misrepresentation to present this as protein synthesis out of air (in fact, the nitrogen source is ammonia [0], NOT nitrogen fixation).
[0] https://youtu.be/z8zuqR95fqA?t=136 timestamped video from solar foods