School of Civil Engineering , The University of Queensland , Brisbane , Queensland 4072 , Australia.
The University of Queensland , Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC) , Queensland St Lucia 4072 , Australia.
Environ Sci Technol. 2018 Jul 3;52(13):7351-7359. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b00216. Epub 2018 Jun 20.
One of the main challenges for the 21st century is to balance the increasing demand for high-quality proteins while mitigating environmental impacts. In particular, cropland-based production of protein-rich animal feed for livestock rearing results in large-scale agricultural land-expansion, nitrogen pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Here we propose and analyze the long-term potential of alternative animal feed supply routes based on industrial production of microbial proteins (MP). Our analysis reveals that by 2050, MP can replace, depending on socio-economic development and MP production pathways, between 10-19% of conventional crop-based animal feed protein demand. As a result, global cropland area, global nitrogen losses from croplands and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions can be decreased by 6% (0-13%), 8% (-3-8%), and 7% (-6-9%), respectively. Interestingly, the technology to industrially produce MP at competitive costs is directly accessible for implementation and has the potential to cause a major structural change in the agro-food system.
二十一世纪的主要挑战之一是在满足对高质量蛋白质不断增长的需求的同时，减轻对环境的影响。特别是，为饲养牲畜而在耕地上生产富含蛋白质的动物饲料，导致了大规模的农业土地扩张、氮污染和温室气体排放。在这里，我们提出并分析了基于工业生产微生物蛋白（MP）的替代动物饲料供应途径的长期潜力。我们的分析表明，到 2050 年，根据社会经济发展和 MP 生产途径的不同，MP 可以替代 10-19%的传统基于农作物的动物饲料蛋白需求。因此，全球耕地面积、农田氮素流失和农业温室气体排放分别可减少 6%（0-13%）、8%（-3-8%）和 7%（-6-9%）。有趣的是，以有竞争力的成本工业化生产 MP 的技术可直接实施，并有潜力引起农业食品系统的重大结构变化。
