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Food "made from air" could compete with soya“空气”食品可以与大豆竞争
By Roger Harrabin
（Pasi Vainikka at the Solar Foods plant near Helsinki帕斯Vainikka在赫尔辛基附近的太阳能食品厂）
Finnish scientists producing a protein "from thin air" say it will compete with soya on price within the decade. 芬兰科学家“凭空”生产一种蛋白质，称该蛋白质将在十年内与大豆竞争价格。
The protein is produced from soil bacteria fed on hydrogen split from water by electricity. 这种蛋白质是由土壤细菌产生的，而土壤细菌是以通过电从水中分离出来的氢为食。
The researchers say if the electricity comes from solar and wind power, the food can be grown with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. 研究人员说，如果电力来自太阳能和风能，则可以使食物的温室气体排放量几乎为零。
If their dreams are realised, it could help the world tackle many of the problems associated with farming. 如果他们的梦想得以实现，它将有助于世界解决与农业有关的许多问题。
When I visited Solar Foods" pilot planton the outskirts of Helsinki last year the researchers were raising funds for expansion. 去年，当我参观赫尔辛基郊区的Solar Foods的中试工厂时，研究人员正在筹集资金进行扩张。
Now they say they have attracted 5.5m euros of investment, and they predict – depending on the price of electricity – that their costs will roughly match those for soya production by the end of the decade - perhaps even by 2025. 现在，他们说他们已经吸引了550万欧元的投资，并且他们预测-根据电力价格-到本十年末-甚至到2025年，其成本将大致与大豆生产的成本相当。
Lacking in taste? 口味不足？
I ate a few grains of the precious protein flour - called Solein - and tasted nothing, which is what the scientists have planned. 我吃了几粒珍贵的蛋白质面粉-称为Solein-而没有品尝到任何味道，这是科学家们计划的。
They want it to be a neutral additive to all sorts of foods. 他们希望它是所有食品的中性添加剂。
It could mimic palm oil by reinforcing pies, ice cream, biscuits, pasta, noodles, sauces or bread. The inventors say it can be used as a medium for growing cultured meat or fish. 它可以通过增强馅饼，冰淇淋，饼干，面食，面条，酱料或面包来模仿棕榈油。发明人说，它可用作生长养殖肉或鱼的介质。
It could also nourish cattle to save them eating soya raised on rainforest land. 它还可以养牛，以拯救他们食用雨林土地上养育的大豆。
Even if things go according to plan – which, of course, they may not – it will be many years before the protein production is scaled up to meet global demand. 即使事情按计划进行（当然可能没有），但要扩大蛋白质产量以满足全球需求还需要很多年。
But this is one of many projects looking towards a future of synthesised food. 但这是展望合成食品未来的众多项目之一。
The firm’s CEO is Pasi Vainikka, who studied at Cranfield University in the UK and is now adjunct professor at Lappeenranta University. 该公司的首席执行官是Pasi Vainikka，他曾在英国的克兰菲尔德大学学习，现在是拉彭兰塔大学的兼职教授。
Space age ideas太空时代的想法
He told me the ideas behind the technology were originally developed for the space industry in the 1960s. 他告诉我，这项技术背后的想法最初是在1960年代为航天工业开发的。
He admits his demonstrator plant is running some months behind time but says it will be ready by 2022. A full investment decision will come in 2023, and if all goes according to plan, the first factory will appear in 2025. 他承认自己的演示工厂已经推迟了几个月运行，但表示将在2022年准备就绪。一项全面的投资决定将在2023年做出，如果一切按计划进行，则第一座工厂将在2025年建成。
He said: “We are doing pretty well so far. Once we scale the factory from the first one by adding reactors (to ferment protein) and take into account the amazing improvements in other clean technologies like wind and solar power,we think we can compete with soya possibly as early as 2025.” 他说：“到目前为止，我们做得很好。一旦我们通过增加反应器（发酵蛋白质）从第一家工厂扩大规模，并考虑到风能和太阳能等其他清洁技术的惊人进步，我们认为我们最早可以在2025年与大豆竞争。”
To make Solein, water is "split", using electrolysis to make hydrogen. The hydrogen, carbon dioxide from the air and minerals are fed to bacteria, which then produce the protein. 为了制造Solein，使用电解法将氢“分裂”成氢。空气中的氢，二氧化碳和矿物质被送入细菌，然后产生蛋白质。
A key determinant, he said, would be the price of electricity. The firm anticipates that as more renewables come on-stream, the cost will fall. 他说，一个关键的决定因素将是电价。该公司预计，随着越来越多的可再生能源投入生产，成本将下降。
The progress of this extraordinary technology has been hailed by the environmental campaigner George Monbiot, who has made a TV documentary, Apocalypse Cow, broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK at 22:00 GMT on Wednesday. 环保运动人士乔治·蒙比奥特（George Monbiot）赞扬这项非凡技术的进步，他拍摄了电视纪录片《启示录牛》，该影片于周三格林尼治标准时间22:00在英国第4频道播出。
Hope for the future? 未来的希望？
Monbiot is generally pessimistic about the future of the planet, but says Solar Foods has given him hope. Monbiot通常对地球的未来感到悲观，但他说Solar Foods给了他希望。
He said: “Food production is ripping the living world apart. Fishing and farming are, by a long way, the greatest causeof extinction and loss of the diversity and abundance of wildlife. Farming is a major cause of climate breakdown. 他说：“粮食生产正在使生活世界崩溃。从长远来看，捕鱼和农业是灭绝和丧失野生生物多样性和丰富度的最大原因。农业是造成气候崩溃的主要原因。
“But just as hope appeared to be evaporating, ‘farmfree food’ creates astonishing possibilities to save both people and planet. “但是，正如希望在消失，"非农食品"为拯救人类和地球创造了惊人的可能性。
“By temporarily shifting towards a plant-based diet, we can help buy the time to save species and places. “通过暂时转向以植物为主的饮食，我们可以帮助节省时间来保存物种和地方。
“But farmfree food offers hope where hope was missing. We will soon be able to feed the world without devouring it.” “但是，无农的粮食为希望在缺少希望的地方提供了希望。我们很快就能在不吞噬世界的情况下满足世界的需求。”
Research by the think tank RethinkX, which forecasts the implications of technology-driven disruption of many kinds, suggests that proteins from precision fermentation will be around 10 times cheaperthan animal protein by 2035. 智库RethinkX的研究预测了技术驱动的多种破坏的影响，该研究表明，到2035年，精确发酵产生的蛋白质将比动物蛋白质便宜约10倍。
It forecasts the result will be the near-complete collapse of the livestock industry - although critics will complain that this doesn’t take into account the ability of meat producers to harness the novel proteins to feed their own stock . 它预测结果将导致畜牧业几乎完全崩溃，尽管批评家会抱怨说，这没有考虑到肉类生产者利用新型蛋白质喂养自己的牲畜的能力。
A consortium of leading scientific research and academic institutions has been formed to identify innovative solutions to tackle climate change linked to the agri-food sector. 已经成立了一个由领先的科学研究和学术机构组成的联盟，以寻找创新解决方案来应对与农业食品部门有关的气候变化。
A paper last year concluded that microbial protein was several times more efficient than soya in terms of land use, and required just a tenth as much water. 去年的一篇论文得出结论，就土地利用而言，微生物蛋白的效率是大豆的几倍，而水的需求量仅为大豆的十分之一。
Another factor, though, will be cultural. Many people will still want to eat lamb chops that look like lamb chops. 但是，另一个因素将是文化因素。许多人仍然想吃看起来像羊排的羊排。
Professor Leon Terry from Cranfield University told BBC News there was growing interest from investors in novel foods. 克兰菲尔德大学（Cranfield University）教授里昂·特里（Leon Terry）告诉BBC新闻，投资者对新型食品的兴趣与日俱增。
“There is increased momentum and investment round synthetic foods,” he said. But he asked: "Is there really an appetite for their consumption?” 他说：“合成食品的发展势头和投资有所增加，”他说。但是他问：“他们的消费真的有胃口吗？”
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