Lab-Grown Alternatives Aim To Cut Palm Oil Dependence (bbc.com) 59
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: It was landing at Singapore's international airport a decade ago that sparked Shara Ticku's idea to create a lab-grown alternative to palm oil. "In 2013 I flew to Singapore, and when I landed I had to wear a mask," says the boss of US tech firm C16 Biosciences. "The air was toxic because they were burning the rainforest in Indonesia." Indonesian farmers, who were clearing land for palm oil and other crops, were blamed for the fires and the smoke that drifted across the sea to Singapore. Fast forward to today, and her business has just commercially released an alternative to palm oil that is created from yeast cells.
Palm oil remains the world's most-produced vegetable oil, accounting for 40% of the total, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). [...] The widely-documented problem with this usage is that this demand for palm oil has led to significant deforestation in areas where oil palm trees can grow -- low-lying, hot, wet areas near the equator. The use of this land for palm oil cultivation, 85% of which is in Indonesia and Malaysia, has increased almost nine-fold from 3.3 million hectares (eight million acres) in 1970 to 28.7 million hectares in 2020. In financial terms, one report valued the worldwide palm oil industry at $62.3 billion in 2021. And such is the continuing growth in demand, this figure is expected to increase to $75.7 billion by 2028.
To try to reduce the world's reliance on palm oil, Ms Ticku, who was formerly an investment banker, and her co-founders set up C16 Biosciences in New York City in 2018. Backed by multi-million dollar funding from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the company has spent the past four years developing and finessing their product, which is called Palmless. They grow a strain of yeast that naturally produces an oil with very similar properties to palm, which they harvest. The yeast is fed on sugars from sugar cane plants grown on land already used for arable farming. "Our process takes less than seven days from start to finish," says a spokeswoman for C16 Biosciences. "For a traditional oil palm tree, the oil wouldn't be ready to harvest until years after the seed is planted, and most trees don't reach peak production until seven years later." She adds that the company is now "actively collaborating on partnerships in the beauty and home categories -- for example, moisturizers, nourishing oils, soaps and cancels". "[And] we plan to enter into food in 2024." Chris Chuck, professor of bioprocess engineering at the University of Bath, leads another team that has created its own yeast-sourced alternative. "After hundreds of generations of yeast, and years of trial and error, they arrived at a unique strain called metschnikowia pulcherrima, or MP for short," reports the BBC. "MP is said to be hardy and not fussy what it eats. It can be fed on grass and food waste. And at the point of harvesting, its cells are full of oil. Even the leftover yeast cell biomass need not go to waste. It can be used for other products, for example creating a substitute for soya protein."
Prof Chuck says the aim is for the oil to be as sustainable as possible. "In the best case scenarios we've modeled," he says, "it could be even just a couple of percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil grown in Indonesia or Malaysia."
Palm oil remains the world's most-produced vegetable oil, accounting for 40% of the total, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). [...] The widely-documented problem with this usage is that this demand for palm oil has led to significant deforestation in areas where oil palm trees can grow -- low-lying, hot, wet areas near the equator. The use of this land for palm oil cultivation, 85% of which is in Indonesia and Malaysia, has increased almost nine-fold from 3.3 million hectares (eight million acres) in 1970 to 28.7 million hectares in 2020. In financial terms, one report valued the worldwide palm oil industry at $62.3 billion in 2021. And such is the continuing growth in demand, this figure is expected to increase to $75.7 billion by 2028.
To try to reduce the world's reliance on palm oil, Ms Ticku, who was formerly an investment banker, and her co-founders set up C16 Biosciences in New York City in 2018. Backed by multi-million dollar funding from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the company has spent the past four years developing and finessing their product, which is called Palmless. They grow a strain of yeast that naturally produces an oil with very similar properties to palm, which they harvest. The yeast is fed on sugars from sugar cane plants grown on land already used for arable farming. "Our process takes less than seven days from start to finish," says a spokeswoman for C16 Biosciences. "For a traditional oil palm tree, the oil wouldn't be ready to harvest until years after the seed is planted, and most trees don't reach peak production until seven years later." She adds that the company is now "actively collaborating on partnerships in the beauty and home categories -- for example, moisturizers, nourishing oils, soaps and cancels". "[And] we plan to enter into food in 2024." Chris Chuck, professor of bioprocess engineering at the University of Bath, leads another team that has created its own yeast-sourced alternative. "After hundreds of generations of yeast, and years of trial and error, they arrived at a unique strain called metschnikowia pulcherrima, or MP for short," reports the BBC. "MP is said to be hardy and not fussy what it eats. It can be fed on grass and food waste. And at the point of harvesting, its cells are full of oil. Even the leftover yeast cell biomass need not go to waste. It can be used for other products, for example creating a substitute for soya protein."
Prof Chuck says the aim is for the oil to be as sustainable as possible. "In the best case scenarios we've modeled," he says, "it could be even just a couple of percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil grown in Indonesia or Malaysia."
This is slashdot.... (Score:5, Funny)
It's not the palm oil you're thinking of.
Interesting. (Score:3)
Re:Interesting. (Score:4, Interesting)
Palm oil is used as cooking oil worldwide, is heavily used in processed food, and is used for biodiesel.
There is bottomless demand for as much as can be produced.
Sugar cane produces 14M kcals/hectare.
Palm oil produces 9M kcals/hectare.
So the process will have to be very efficient to be better than breakeven.
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The important part is that the next most profitable crop will be less profitable - potentially significantly so. Which makes clear cutting rainforest for farmland less profitable.
I'm not sure just how profitable the palm oil market is, but my impression is that a lot of farming markets are pretty marginal to begin with, with only the most profitable cash crops worth seriously considering. Even a 10% reduction in the gross income from the most profitable cash crop might be enough to make a lot of farms unp
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Never take up farming in the first place?
Go back to whatever they were doing beforehand?
We're not talking about driving people off the family farm, but getting them to not actively destroy rainforest to produce new farmland.
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Never take up farming in the first place?
Well, as time travel seems to be impossible, we’ll ignore this option, as we can’t go back and stop existing farmers from becoming farmers in the first place.
Go back to whatever they were doing beforehand?
It was probably farming. It may have been subsistence farming, but in all likelihood, these people have been farming for *generations*. Farming is very rarely an occupation taken up by people from other walks of life. More often, people stop farming to go do something that is easier and makes more money, as soon as their local economy can
Yes and no (Score:2)
These countries aren't stupid and lazy. They're heavily exploited. They're constantly being shaken down by the global equivalent of the mob and/or payday lenders. And every time they get on their feet somebody sends in their equivalent of the CIA (or America sends the actual CIA) and they're back to square one.
The best way to end slash and burn abroad is to pay attention to who you're voting for at home,
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If your ideas revolve around stopping US and China dominance, well, good luck with that :)
Oooook (Score:5, Insightful)
Legendary fantasy author Terry Pratchett was a passionate advocate for the protection of orangutan habitats. In his writing and public statements, Pratchett drew attention to the devastating impact of palm oil production on these beloved primates.
Orangutans are facing extinction due to the destruction of their rainforest habitats for palm oil plantations. This is a tragedy not only for these intelligent and unique animals, but also for the indigenous communities and the biodiversity of the region.
Pratchett, who passed away in 2015, was a vocal critic of the palm oil industry and its role in the destruction of orangutan habitats. He urged consumers to be mindful of the products they buy and to avoid those that contain palm oil.
The palm oil industry is one of the main drivers of deforestation in Southeast Asia, where the majority of the world's remaining wild orangutans live. The loss of their habitats not only pushes them closer to extinction, but also destroys the homes of indigenous communities and contributes to climate change.
We can honor Terry Pratchett's legacy by taking action to protect orangutans and their habitats. By choosing products that are free from palm oil and supporting organizations working to protect orangutan habitats, we can make a real difference in the fight to save these magnificent animals.
Re:Oooook (Score:5, Interesting)
By the way, this post was written by the following prompt to chatgpt:
"Write an appropriate slashdot post about how orangutan environment protection was important to Terry Pratchett, and how palm-oil is one of the main drivers of that calamity."
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By the way, this post was written by the following prompt to chatgpt: "Write an appropriate slashdot post about how orangutan environment protection was important to Terry Pratchett, and how palm-oil is one of the main drivers of that calamity."
If you ask for "an appropriate slashdot post" it will produce two outputs on consecutive days. Wait and see...
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I figured it would produce a GNAA troll post.
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I thought it was on account of you working for years in the PR industry, losing all touch with how actual humans talk, speaking instead in phrases and cadence of empty corporate twaddle.
Talking much without saying nothing at all.
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Did it give the title?
Re: Oooook (Score:2)
No, that was just mine.
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And what I've pulled from chatgpt for /tomorrow's/ posting of the same story:
"I'm disappointed to see that this story was posted again despite having been previously covered. It's clear that the editors at Slashdot don't have a good handle on their content, and are unable to keep track of what's already been posted. This is a disservice to the readers and community, who expect a higher level of quality control from a site like Slashdot. It's time for the editors to step up and do their jobs more effectively
Let's put these poor people out of business (Score:3)
Of course we want to protect the pretty trees but these poor people make a living growing palm oil.
What will they do instead?
Re: Let's put these poor people out of business (Score:1, Funny)
Burn forests in order to plant sugar cane.
Missing the obvious comparison... (Score:2)
... sugarcane land usage vs. palm plantation usage; "time to harvest" isn't the factor that matters most, since the trees produce year-on-end.
That said, switching to yeast does yield this fascinating alternative possibility [nature.com]; they've already demonstrated that you can grow yeast effectively by feeding them acetate, which can be made by industrial processes, with no need for the great inefficiency of growing crops for their sugars. Area for area, land with solar panels will produce 18x more yeast than growing
Re:Missing the obvious comparison... (Score:4, Insightful)
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That's a good point; I simply assumed that it was a strain of S. cerevisiae, since that's overwhelmingly what humans cultivate - but it could well be any yeast species. Still, I would be shocked if there wasn't at least some way to render it safe for animal feed.
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"Acetate made from industrial processes", starting from petroleum I presume? There are easier ways to get oil out of corn.
Potatoes to vodka to vinegar to feed the yeast to make oil would be interesting. Doesn't seem practical.
Chemically palm oil is a mix of palmitic (C-16, saturated) and oleic (C-18, monounsaturated) fatty acids. Oleic is available in canola and olive oils, so they are really interested in the palmitic acid. C-16 is just a bit heavier than diesel. They should be able to make that.
Thought p
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No. Starting from CO2 (that's what the electricity is for - electrolysis). It's literally in the very first sentence of the linked article's abstract. And twice in the second sentence, in case you missed that. 37% electrical efficiency, 57% selectivity for acetate, 24% net electrical efficiency for acetate. Plants are astoundingly inefficient at sequestering biomass by comparison.
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I don't know if I'm getting this but as I read the article we can from electricity, CO2 and water produce acetate, ethylene and some other useful stuff. Acetate can be used to grow yeast or algae without sunlight and crops like lettuce with sunlight.
The article seem focused on food production, but to selectively quote you " industrial processes, with no need for the great inefficiency of growing crops for their sugars." suggests to me it'd be suitable for ethanol production?
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If you want ethanol and you're going to engineer the process, you'd probably be better to just make it directly rather than the acetate. And if you want hydrocarbon fuel, just make whatever it is you're actually interested in.
We try to avoid Palm and other "unhealthy" oils (Score:2, Offtopic)
When it comes to food, we generally avoid Palm Oil, and most other "mainstream" oils as well. We focus on fresh meats and veggies, EVOO, Avacado Oil, and some cheeses. We've cut out most processed foods including products with high grains, refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup, refined flours, etc. Within 9 months I lost 72 pounds (down to 180), my wife lost 50 pounds, and our lab numbers are all now within normal ranges (no more high Glucose or high A1C levels.)
Obviously all of these things can't be com
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Not only don't I want to support palm oil due to its ecological impact, but it is gross. For lack of a better term, it seems more "greasy" than other oils. The flavor is OK, but the mouth feel is weird. I generally read labels but sometimes I get lazy when I've purchased a product before, and when I accidentally get a product where they've changed it to palm oil since the last time I ate it, I can always tell immediately. Every other fat tastes richer, and every other fat but lard feels better on my tongue.
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Not only don't I want to support palm oil due to its ecological impact, but it is gross. For lack of a better term, it seems more "greasy" than other oils.
Also carcinogenic! What's not to like.
It's not fully proven though, but the people I know in academia who work on cancer avoid palm oil like the plague. They appear convinced.
Currently I can find precisely one margarine that's sold nearby that doesn't have either palm oil or dairy. Irritatingly hard to get hold of but at least it does exist.
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I've been modded down here for saying this, but I concur. I have fairly credible sources that tell me that while it won't actually give you cancer directly, the human body normally fights off the type of DNA copy errors that lead to cancer all on its own, and palm oil can actually increase the rate of these copy errors in a way that can cause them to be more likely to turn into full-blown cancer, and it can also can "feed" existing cancers to cause them to metastasize faster and spread more aggressively. Wi
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I tried focusing on cake once. It didn't last. (Score:2)
Most people are not as rich, white, "western" and old as to be able to subsist themselves and their families by "focusing" on "fresh meats and veggies, EVOO, Avacado Oil, and some cheeses".
How healthy a food is tends to be a function of one's hunger.
And though we're obviously overproducing food as a species, large parts of the population don't really have a choice when it comes to what they can afford to eat.
On the other hand, cheap oil means profits for the people in the "developed world", allowing people
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Olive oil isn't mainstream now hey?
That's the way to go. (Score:2)
Ruin those farmers and have a good feeling on top.
What's not to lie?
There is no need for palm oil (Score:4, Interesting)
When I go shopping I look at the ingredients. The most common things I don't buy due to palm oil are nutella and peanut butter. Since you can make peanut butter with just peanuts, there is no need to put chemicals or sugar or anything else in it unless you're just a sick greedy corporate a-hole.
It would be better to focus on eliminating those who participate in destroying the earth to create processed food, which in turn destroys the lives of humans that are fooled in to eating it for nutrition.
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"Why are they growing so much palm oil?"
It's because NGOs went through and taught rural people that it was a high-value crop they could grow and process for export.
"So what happens to those people if this kills the market for palm oil?"
They're screwed.
"Oh."
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The country has been "colonized" on a pretty regular basis for the last 500 to 5,000 years depending on how broadly you define "regular". Blaming bulldozers specifically or European technology generally gives short shrift to a whole lot of history.
MP - member of parliament... (Score:2)
'MP is said to be hardy and not fussy what it eats. It can be fed on grass and food waste. And at the point of harvesting, its cells are full of oil.'
I knew we treated our MPs too well.
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MP is said to be hardy and not fussy what it eats. It can be fed on grass and food waste.
And at the point of harvesting, its cells are full of oil. Even the leftover yeast cell biomass need not go to waste.
It can be used for other products, for example creating a substitute for soya protein.
I'm not sure I want my soylent green to be coming from such a source. Too much of that spoiled old gammon aftertaste.
let's be clear about who the culprit is (Score:1)
Indonesian farmers, who were clearing land for palm oil and other crops,
clearing the land due to the financial incentives provided by Western European countries, and allowed with no oversight by a corrupt Indonesian government.
Sure, blame the farmers.
Incentives work.
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I wonder who banned trans fats and created the palm oil market?
Oh, farmers!
CO2 (Score:2)
There's nothing wrong with palm oil (Score:2)
But is it cheap? (Score:2)