Table 5.
Life cycle analyses (LCA) of alternative proteins.
| Protein Type | Energy Use (MJ/kg) |
GHG Emission (kg CO2-eq/kg Product) |
Water Use or Eutrophication a | Land Use (m2a/kg) b |
Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultured meat | |||||
| Minced beef 1 | 26–33 | 1.90–2.24 | 0.36–0.52 m3/kg meat (W) | 0.19–0.23 | [28] |
| CHO 2 | 106 | 7.5 | 7.9 g PO4-eq/kg meat (E) | 5.5 | [205] |
| Plant-based meat | |||||
| Beyond Burger® | 54.15 | 3.35 | 28.84 m3/kg meat (W) | 3.97 | [209] |
| Impossible Burger® | NA | 3.5 | 0.11 m3/kg meat (W); 1.3 g PO4-eq/kg meat | 2.5 | [210] |
| Insect protein | |||||
| Mealworm (T. molitor and Zophobas morio) | 33.68 | 2.65 | NA | 3.56 | [206] |
| Black soldier fly (H. illucens) | 21.20–99.60 | 1.36–15.10 | NA | 0.032–7.03 | [207] |
| Cricket (G. bimaculatans and A. domesticus) | NA | 2.29 | 0.43 m3/kg cricket (W); 0.00047 kg P-eq and 0.020 kg N-eq/kg cricket (E) | NA | [208] |
| Single-cell protein | |||||
| Spirulina tablets (A. platensis) | 7.88–12.7 | 5.05–7.71 | 0.015–0.022 kg N-eq/kg tablet (E) | NA | [211] |
| Micoalgal protein (A. platensis) | 1225.6–3338.3 | 78.1–196.3 | 3.2–3.3 m3/kg protein meal (W); 49.2–85.3 kg N-eq/kg protein meal (E) | 1.7–4.3 | [212] |
| Microalgal protein (C. vulgaris) | 217.1–4181.3 | 14.7–245.1 | 0.3–3.9 m3/kg protein meal (W); 40.6–105.3 kg N-eq/kg protein meal (E) | 1.9–5.4 | [212] |
| Mycoprotein | 60.07–76.8 | 5.55–6.15 | NA | 0.79–0.84 | [213] |
| Bacterial protein (Cupriavidus necator) | NA | 0.81–1 | 0.0001–0.0038 m3/kg protein (W); 0.000333 kg P-eq/kg protein (E) | 0.029–0.085 | [214] |
| Bacterial protein (hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria) | 200 | 8 | 2.5 m3/kg protein (W); 0.0025 kg P-eq/kg protein and 0.00035 N-eq/kg protein (E) |
0.8 | [215] |
GHG, greenhouse gas; NA, not available. a Water use (W) is expressed in volumetric unit (m3 or L/weight of product), whereas eutrophication (E) is a measure of the amount of contaminants released into freshwater or marine environments (g contaminant/weight of product). b Land use is expressed in annual area occupation (m2a). 1 Cyanobacterial hydrolysate was assumed as the growth medium. 2 LCA was conducted based on the proliferation of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) in a growth medium mainly comprising basal medium and soy hydrolysate.