Renewable energy produced from wind turbines and solar photovoltaics (PV) has rapidly increased its share in global energy markets. At the same time, interest in producing hydrocarbons via power-to-X (PtX) approaches using renewables has grown as the technology has matured. However, there exist knowledge gaps related to environmental impacts of some PtX approaches. Power-to-food (PtF) application is one of those approaches. To evaluate the environmental impacts of different PtF approaches, life cycle assessment was performed. The theoretical environmental potential of a novel concept of PtX technologies was investigated. Because PtX approaches have usually multiple technological solutions, such as the studied PtF application can have, several technological setups were chosen for the study. PtF application is seen as potentially being able to alleviate concerns about the sustainability of the global food sector, for example, as regards the land and water use impacts of food production. This study investigated four different environmental impact categories for microbial protein (MP) production via different technological setups of PtF from a cradle-to-gate perspective. The investigated impact categories include global warming potential, blue-water use, land use, and eutrophication. The research was carried out using a life cycle impact assessment method. The results for PtF processes were compared with the impacts of other MP production technologies and soybean production. The results indicate that significantly lower environmental impact can be achieved with PtF compared with the other protein production processes studied. The best-case PtF technology setups cause considerably lower land occupation, eutrophication, and blue-water consumption impacts compared with soybean production. However, the energy source used and the electricity-to-biomass efficiency of the bioreactor greatly affect the sustainability of the PtF approach. Some energy sources and technological choices result in higher environmental impacts than other MP and soybean production. When designing PtF production facilities, special attention should thus be given to the technology used. With some qualifications, PtF can be considered an option for improving global food security at minimal environmental impact. If the MP via the introduced application substitutes the most harmful practices of production other protein sources, the saved resources could be used to, for example, mitigation purposes or to improve food security elsewhere. However, there still exist challenges, such as food safety–related issues, to be solved before PtF application can be used for commercial use.

中文翻译：

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通过电力到食物的方法对微生物蛋白质生产进行生命周期环境可持续性分析

风力涡轮机和太阳能光伏 (PV) 产生的可再生能源在全球能源市场中的份额迅速增加。与此同时，随着技术的成熟，人们对使用可再生能源通过 Power-to-X (PtX) 方法生产碳氢化合物的兴趣也在增长。然而，在一些 PtX 方法的环境影响方面存在知识差距。电力到食品 (PtF) 应用是其中一种方法。为了评估不同 PtF 方法的环境影响，进行了生命周期评估。研究了 PtX 技术新概念的理论环境潜力。由于 PtX 方法通常具有多种技术解决方案，例如所研究的 PtF 应用程序可能具有的技术解决方案，因此为研究选择了多种技术设置。PtF 应用被认为有可能减轻对全球粮食部门可持续性的担忧，例如，粮食生产对土地和水资源利用的影响。本研究从摇篮到门的角度通过不同的 PtF 技术设置调查了微生物蛋白质 (MP) 生产的四种不同环境影响类别。调查的影响类别包括全球变暖潜势、蓝水利用、土地利用和富营养化。该研究使用生命周期影响评估方法进行。将 PtF 工艺的结果与其他 MP 生产技术和大豆生产的影响进行了比较。结果表明，与研究的其他蛋白质生产过程相比，PtF 可以显着降低环境影响。与大豆生产相比，最佳情况下的 PtF 技术设置导致的土地占用、富营养化和蓝水消耗影响显着降低。然而，所使用的能源和生物反应器的电能转化为生物质的效率极大地影响了 PtF 方法的可持续性。一些能源和技术选择导致比其他 MP 和大豆生产更高的环境影响。因此，在设计 PtF 生产设施时，应特别注意所使用的技术。凭借某些资格，PtF 可被视为以最小环境影响改善全球粮食安全的一种选择。如果 MP 通过引入的应用程序替代了其他蛋白质来源生产中最有害的做法，则节省的资源可用于，例如，缓解目的或改善其他地方的粮食安全。然而，在 PtF 应用可以用于商业用途之前，仍然存在挑战，例如与食品安全相关的问题需要解决。