Futuristic Farmers Deploy Solar Power To Farm For Microbes
Ambient air carbon capture has come in for its share of ridicule over the years, but fans of the technology finally have something to cheer about. As applied to farming, carbon can be plucked from the air to boost crop yields. All that’s needed is an assist from solar power and some other equipment. An international research team has the goods to prove it, only the crops in question ain’t no ordinary food crops.
Future Farming: Microbial Protein Edition
If you’re guessing microbial protein powder is in the mix, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. Researchers have been looking into the production of microbial protein as an energy efficient, water saving, and land conserving alternative to farming for conventional animal and plant proteins.
Microbial protein refers to just what you might think it does: tiny bits of living matter in the form of algae, yeast, fungi, or bacteria, murdered and dried into a powder.
That doesn’t sound too appetizing, but back in 2016, researchers took note that the “time has come to re‐assess the current potentials of producing protein‐rich feed or food additives in the form of algae, yeasts, fungi and plain bacterial cellular biomass, producible with a lower environmental footprint compared with other plant or animal‐based alternatives.”
They also observed that non-technological roadblocks are in the way.
“In order for microbial protein as feed or food to become a major and sustainable alternative, addressing the challenges of creating awareness and achieving public and broader regulatory acceptance are real and need to be addressed with care and expedience,” they wrote.
Sure enough, animal feed is the leading market for microbial protein today, with aquaculture being the main driver.
As for humans, microbial protein hasn’t quite caught hold in the popular imagination yet. However, it is emerging as a health supplement, so that’s a start.
Solar Power (& Carbon Capture) For Better Microbial Protein Farming
If microbial protein powder is to become the food of the future, investors need to be convinced that it is a money-maker compared to conventional crops, and that’s where the new research comes in.
Earlier this year, an international research team studied a microbial protein farming method that deploys solar power with carbon capture along with two other necessary components, land and nutrients.
“The study carried out an analysis of the energy requirements for each step, from the very start to the end product, taking into account: electricity generation (from solar panels), electrochemical production of energy-rich substrate for the microbes, microbe cultivation, harvesting, and processing the protein-rich biomass,” explained Göttingen University, which was the former home of first author on the study, Dorian Leger.
“We show that the production of microbial foods outperforms agricultural cultivation of staple crops in terms of caloric and protein yields per land area at all relevant solar irradiance levels. These results suggest that microbial foods could substantially contribute to feeding a growing population and can assist in allocating future limited land resources,” the researchers concluded.
Let’s Get Excited About The Solar Power & Protein Powder Mashup
For all the juicy details, look up “Photovoltaic-driven microbial protein production can use land and sunlight more efficiently than conventional crops” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Meanwhile, it appears that the solar power plus carbon capture angle is not waiting around to leap the Valley of Death that can trap promising new technology in the lab forever.
Over in Finland, a startup called Solar Foods has just nailed down the first ever investment from the new Finnish Climate Fund, to the tune of €10 million. That pumps Solar Foods’s finanical profile up to a total of €35 million to commericialize its proprietary Solein® microbial protein powder.
Solar Foods appears to have taken a look back at the 2016 research, and they are not taking the public awareness angle for granted.
The company is pitching its product straight to the tech-savvy, transparency-demanding foodie of the future.
“Solar Foods has turned sci-fi into reality — it is now possible to produce nutritionally complete protein using carbon dioxide in the air and electricity as its primary raw materials,” the company enthuses, explaining that its first industrial-scale demonstrator facility in Finland will include “the Solein Experience Hub and a future-food bar to provide citizens with an entirely new level of transparency in food production.”
“We want to disconnect food production from the accelerating consumption of natural resources. It is fascinating to be part of making this happen,” they add.
As for the aesthetic experience, Solar Foods has that covered as well.
“Solein vanishes into daily meals, while at the same time maintaining its rich nutritional value and offering a unified solution that caters to virtually every imaginable meal of today and tomorrow,” explains Solar Foods CTO and co-founder Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, adding that “Our vision is to change the way food is produced. The world has hope. The food of the future is no longer a utopia, it is already being produced.”
Solar Power Plus Carbon Capture For The Sustainable The Farm Of The Future
Sweet. Don’t break out the knives and forks just yet, though. Solar Foods is looking to start operations at the new facility in 2023, so let’s take this opportunity to take a closer look at the solar power angle.
Solar Foods estimates that Solein’s comparative greenhouse gas emissions involved in Solein production are only about 1% compared to meat protein, and 20% compared to plant protein production, partly due to the use of solar power to generate electricity for ambient air carbon capture and other systems.
If you’re thinking that the emerging field of agrivoltaics could possibly come into play, that’s possible. Agrivoltaics refers to the combination of solar power with farming practices that conserve soil and build soil health. The trend has already caught on among livestock farmers, who graze sheep and cattle amongst the arrays of solar panels on their land. The solar power plus farming trend is also coming into vogue as a means of expanding pollinator habitats.
Solar Foods envisions parking its systems in deserts where regular food crops can’t grow, but in other areas the solar farm component of the system could do double duty as a host for pollinator habitats or shade-tolerant crops, providing an additional layer of sustainability pixie dust to microbial protein farming.
Solar Power & The Fourth Agricultural Revolution
Commercial agriculture has changed over the years, but solar power is always at the heart of it.
As Solar Foods explained in a recent blog post, taking things down to the cellular level is the next logical step, sustainably speaking.
“It is being called the fourth agricultural revolution. The first one taking place when humans started farming around 12,000 years ago, the second was the reorganisation of farmland after the Middle Ages, and the third (also known as the Green Revolution) was the introduction of chemical fertilisers and pesticides alongside heavy machinery and mass production from the 1950s onwards,” Solar Foods wrote.
When you put it that way, “cellular agriculture” is not even as much of a switcheroo as the transition from the Middle Ages to industrial farming. It’s just more industrial farming, fine tuned with 21st century technology including artificial intelligence, robots, gene editing, and of course, carbon capture and solar power for maximum sustainability.
Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.
Image: Microbial protein farming with solar power and ambient air carbon capture courtesy of Göttingen University.
With 272 miles of range and more room inside its walls than your first apartment, GM’s Chevy Brightdrop electric van is one of the best commercial EVs you can buy. And if you’re a Costco Executive member, you can get one for yourself or your business with an absolutely incredible $31,500 discount. (!)
Fleet electrification expert Tony Nisam took to LinkedIn yesterday to post a deal that he ran across at a Washington State Costco that stacks a $25,500 manufacturer rebate with $3,000 in “regular” Costco Member Savings, $2,750 in “LIMITED-TIME” Manufacturer to Member Incentives, plus an additional $250 for Costco Executive members.
Do a bit of math (add up 25,500 + 3,000 + $2,750 + 250), and you’ll calculate an almost unheard of $31,500 discount on one of the best, most capable commercial vans on the market – ICE or electric. And that’s before you factor in the 0% interest financing (72 mo.) being advertised at Blade Chevrolet, the Mount Vernon, Washington, where VIN 2G58J2TY6S9104313 (the exact van shown, below) is shown as stock number 16757.
If you’re not a Costco member yet and you’re looking for a new truck for your business or even a unique #vanlife ride with zero emissions, modern tech, and a nationwide dealer network, GM makes that $130 Executive membership seem like a no-brainer.
Kind of a big deal
“But wait,” says the floating, disembodied ghost of the great Billy Mays. “There’s more!” In addition to the $31,500 worth of discounts Costco Executive members get, there are deals to be had on chargers AND a number of other state and local utility incentives your business might qualify for, bringing the cost of adding a new Chevy Brightdrop to your fleet even lower. In northern Illinois, for example, ComEd commercial customers can get up to $7,500 in rebates for a new Brightdrop Zevo van.
Is a $39,000 price cut enough to get you to take a look at a new Brightdrop? At $45,235 (from a starting price of $84,235), can you afford not to? Head down to the comments and let us know.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Tony Nisam.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has quietly removed the Cybertruck’s range extender from the options in its online configurator.
Does Tesla still plan to bring the product to market?
When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, there were two main disappointments: the price and the range.
The tri-motor version, which was the most popular in reservation tallies, was supposed to have over 500 miles of range and start at $70,000.
Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.
As for the dual-motor Cybertruck, it was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. The reality is that it starts at $80,000, and it has 325 miles of range.
However, Tesla had devised a solution to bring the range closer to what it originally announced: a separate battery pack that sits in the truck’s bed. Tesla called it a “range extender.” It costs $16,000 and takes up a third of the Cybertruck’s bed.
Even though the Cybertruck has been in production for a year and a half at this point, the range extender has yet to launch.
Initially, Tesla said that it would come “early 2025”, but we reported that it was pushed to “mid-2025” late last year.
At the time, Tesla also reduced the range that the removable battery pack adds to the Cybertruck to “445+ miles” rather than “470+ miles” for the dual motor – a ~25-mile reduction in range.
Now, Tesla has removed the option from its online Cybertruck configurator. It used to take reservations for the range extender with a “$2,000 non-refundable deposit”, as seen on the image above, but now it’s not in the configurator at all at the time of writing.
It’s unclear if Tesla is not planning to launch the product anymore or if it is just pausing reservations.
In its specs page, Tesla still lists the achievable range of both versions of the Cybertruck with and without the range extender battery:
Electrek’s Take
I’m curious. Is it dead, or does Tesla just want to stop taking reservations for it?
At first, I was curious about the product even though I didn’t think it would make up for Tesla’s significant miss on Cybertruck specs.
However, after it was confirmed that it takes up 30% of your bed and that it needs to be installed and removed by Tesla at a service center, I think it’s pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.
It’s going to be a product limited to only a few people at best. And now that’s if it makes it to market.
With the option being removed from the configurator, there’s no production timeline available. Again, the last one was “mid-2025”, which is soon.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
EcoFlow members can save up to 65% on power stations while supporting disaster relief during the 2025 Member’s Festival
Portable power station specialist EcoFlow is kicking off its third annual Member’s Festival this month and is offering a unique new rewards program to those who become EcoFlow members. The 2025 EcoFlow Member’s Festival will offer savings of up to 65% for its participating customers, and a portion of those funds will be allocated toward rescue power solutions for communities around the globe through the company’s “Power for All” fund.
EcoFlow remains one of the industry leaders in portable power solutions and continues to trek forward in its vision to power a new tech-driven, eco-conscious future. Per its website:
Our mission from day one is to provide smart and eco-friendly energy solutions for individuals, families, and society at large. We are, were, and will continue to be a reliable and trusted energy companion for users around the world.
To achieve such goals, EcoFlow has continued to expand its portfolio of sustainable energy solutions to its community members, including portable power stations, solar generators, and mountable solar panels. While EcoFlow is doing plenty to support its growing customer base, it has expanded its reach by giving back to disaster-affected communities by helping bolster global disaster response efforts the best way it knows how– with portable power solutions.
EcoFlow and its members look to provide “Power for All”
Since 2023, EcoFlow has collaborated with organizations worldwide as part of its “Power for All” mission. This initiative aims to ensure access to reliable and timely power to disaster-affected communities across the globe, including rescue agencies, affected hospitals, and shelters, to support rescue and recovery efforts.
This fund most recently provided aid for communities affected by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, assistance to the Special Forces Charitable Trust (SFCT) in North Carolina following severe hurricanes, and support for non-profits engaged in hurricane preparedness in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Per Jodi Burns, CEO of the Special Forces Charitable Trust:
In the wake of devastating storms in Western North Carolina, reliable power was a critical need for the families we serve. Thanks to EcoFlow’s generous donation of generators, we were able to provide immediate relief, ensuring these families and their communities had access to power when they needed it most. We are so impressed with EcoFlow’s commitment to disaster response through their ‘Power for All’ program. It has made a tangible impact, and we are deeply grateful for their support and partnership in helping these families recover and rebuild.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 weather and climate events, each causing losses exceeding $1 billion, marking the second-highest annual total on record, according to National Centers for Environmental Information. The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters underscore the critical need for reliable and timely power solutions during emergencies, much like EcoFlow and its members are helping provide through the “Power For All” initiative.
To support new and existing EcoFlow members, the company is celebrating its third annual Member’s Festival throughout April to offer a do-not-miss discount on its products and donate a portion of all sales to the “Power for All” fund to provide rescue power to those in need in the future. Learn how it all works below.
Save big and give back during the 2025 Member’s Festival
As of April 1st, you can now sign up to become an EcoFlow member to participate in the company’s exclusive 2025 Member Festival.
As a member, you can earn “EcoFlow Power Points” by completing tasks like registration, referrals, and product purchases and tracking your individual efforts toward disaster preparedness and recovery.
Beginning April 4, EcoFlow members will also be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts of up to 65% off select portable power stations, including the DELTA Pro Ultra, DELTA Pro 3, DELTA 2 Max, DELTA 3 Plus, RIVER 3 Plus, and more. However, these sale prices only last through April 25, so you’ll want to move quickly!
Click here to learn more about EcoFlow’s “Power for All” campaign. To register for EcoFlow’s 2025 Member Festival in the US, visit the EcoFlow website. To register as a member in Canada, visit here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway