Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production

The document highlights a biotechnology consortium's effort to use captured CO2 to produce proteins via fermentation, potentially feeding over 1 billion people annually without using agricultural land. It contrasts the slow regulatory approval processes for novel foods and biocontrols in the European Union with faster timelines in Singapore and the United States, arguing that such delays hinder the global response to food insecurity and climate change.

• A consortium including Novozymes, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is developing a method to produce protein for human consumption by converting captured CO2 into acetate to feed microbes through fermentation, bypassing the need for agricultural land.
• If scaled, the CO2-to-protein technology has the potential to provide enough protein for more than 1 billion people annually, specifically benefiting regions where conventional agriculture is limited.
• Regulatory approval for novel foods in the European Union is significantly slower than in other regions, taking up to three years compared to less than one year in Singapore and a few months in the United States.
• The European Union's classification of agricultural biosolutions as chemicals leads to approval times of up to eight years, whereas the same process takes two years in the United States.

APA

Thomsen, E. B. M. K. (2024). Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/food-water-air/biotechnology-carbon-dioxide-future-food-production/

Chicago

Thomsen, Ester Baiget, Mads Krogsgaard. Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production. World Economic Forum, 2024. https://www.weforum.org/stories/food-water-air/biotechnology-carbon-dioxide-future-food-production/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Thomsen |first1=Ester Baiget, Mads Krogsgaard |title=Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=18 January 2024 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/food-water-air/biotechnology-carbon-dioxide-future-food-production/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{thomsen2024why, author = {Thomsen, Ester Baiget, Mads Krogsgaard}, title = {{Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/food-water-air/biotechnology-carbon-dioxide-future-food-production/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }