Niharika Sapre From sending the first human up into space, to landing on the moon, 1960 was the decade of major advancements beyond the planet Earth. These successful missions have been enabled by spaceships, enormously powerful and wonderful, yet limited in resources. This constraint requires cyclic arrangements. Lisa Dyson and Dr. John Reed, like NASA researchers then, became intrigued by the potential of various self-sustaining systems. Carbon is the building block for all life forms, and we humans get this essential element from food. However, aboard a spacecraft, it can be rather difficult to make a run to the supermarket for some groceries. It was necessary to devise a way to recycle carbon. How so? The answer lies in organisms measuring around one micrometer at their entirety.
Hydrogenotrophs. Single-celled bacteria that metabolize hydrogen as a source of energy, and convert carbon dioxide into amino acids. In a spacecraft, astronauts would exhale carbon dioxide which would be consumed by these microbes who use it to make carbon rich crops. Astronauts would eat the food for energy, continue the process of cellular respiration and breathe out carbon dioxide for the microbes, so on, so forth. This creates what is called a closed loop carbon cycle. These very ideas, though forgotten and old, were the inspiration for the Air Protein team to pursue the super charged carbon recyclers. They wanted to explore carbon recycling on Earth, and divise technical solutions to climate change in ways not only beneficial to the planet, but also business. What they created is utterly extraordinary. The Air Protein meal!
Another product made using hydrogenotrophs is oil! This sustainable oil is similar to citrus, palm, coconut, olive, and soybean oil. It can be used for flavoring, fragrances, biodegradable cleaner, and over 50% of consumer and industrial goods like ice cream, cookies, cooking oil, detergent, lotions, soaps, and even jet fuel! Air Protein is scaling up this technology with manufacturers to bring it to the market. It can help us address the multifarious issues in modern agriculture, which emits more greenhouse gases than all cars, trucks, planes, and trains combined, and uses up landmasses the size of both Africa and South America. It is already estimated that by 2050, Earth will be supporting 10 million individuals, making it necessary for food production to increase by 70% at the ratio of 5% land increase. This technology also addresses deforestation, provided it can be scaled vertically instead of horizontally, as the main medium for growth is water, not arable land or soil. It has become high time for changes in the food and agricultural industry, which holds the beauty and bounty of our planet, our spaceship, at stake. We mustn't travel along self destructive paths that lead us to crashing. Instead, we should take those furthering humanity which is intertwined with nature, and following the course of reality, this should be said the other way ‘round!
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