German researchers have developed a way to use microorganisms, hydrogen, oxygen and renewable energy to turn carbon dioxide into proteins and vitamin B9.
The technique was reported in the journal Biotechnology Trends The event, which opens on Thursday, aims to offer alternatives to traditional agriculture, which is under pressure from population growth and extreme weather.
“It’s a fermentation process similar to brewing beer, but instead of feeding the microorganisms sugars, you feed them gas and acetic acid,” said Lagus Angenendt of the University of Tübingen.
“We knew yeast could make vitamin B9 on its own using sugar, but we didn’t know if it could do the same using acetic acid.”
This process relies on two different microbes working together in the system to produce both protein and folate (vitamin B9), nutrients essential for cell growth and metabolism.
In the first stage, Thermoanaerobacter kibui It converts CO2 and hydrogen into acetic acid, the substance found in vinegar.
In the second stage, Saccharomyces cerevisiaeThey feed this acetic acid and oxygen to yeast, also known as baker’s yeast. The end product of this process is yeast, which is edible and rich in protein and vitamin B9.
Yeast fed acetic acid produces the same amount of vitamin B9 as yeast fed sugar, and researchers say that just 6 grams of yeast can meet a person’s daily vitamin B9 needs.
The required hydrogen and oxygen would be obtained by splitting water using renewable energy such as wind power.
“This method could potentially take food production away from agriculture and provide a sustainable way to produce protein,” Angenent said.
The process uses renewable energy and carbon dioxide, eliminating the need for farmland and offering a promising solution to food security without causing further environmental damage.
The yeast produced in this system is rich in protein – in fact, 85 grams of yeast can provide 61 percent of a person’s daily protein needs, far more than an equivalent amount of beef, pork or lentils.
But there’s a problem: Unprocessed yeast contains compounds that, when consumed in large quantities, can increase the risk of gout. Processed yeast still provides 41 percent of your daily protein needs, comparable to traditional protein sources.
This system addresses two pressing global challenges: food scarcity and environmental destruction. By turning CO2 into food and using renewable energy, it reduces carbon emissions and the need for farmland.
Over the past year, international organizations The alarm bell continued to ring Rising food insecurity has pushed millions of people into extreme hunger and malnutrition.
The United Nations World Food Programme has called it a “hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions.”
With drought expected to make almost half of Namibia’s population food insecure in the coming months, the country recently announced plans to kill 83 elephants and 640 other wildlife to help feed its people.
“As the world population approaches 10 billion, producing enough food will become even more difficult,” Angenent said.
The researchers suggest that the yeast could also be valuable in areas facing food shortages and in countries with limited land and water resources.
But the researchers say the system needs more work before it can be widely used: Next steps include scaling up the process, making sure the yeast is food-safe, and testing whether there’s any market interest.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done before this yeast can be sold in stores,” Angenent said.
The Independent newspaper Climate 100 List We will be holding an online event in New York in September.
