Abstract
Insect meal (IM) is a source of high-quality protein for aquafeed while insect oil (IO) is a source of fatty acids used in monogastric feed with identical or better performance than premium fishmeal (FM) or vegetable oils (VOs) respectively. Although insects’ ability to feed on agricultural by-products and the entire valorization of insect products (IM, IO, frass) suggest insect production is sustainable, no studies have documented its environmental impact using industrial-scale production data. The present study is the first attributional life cycle assessment (A-LCA) based on data from an industrial-scale facility implementing an innovative symbiosis production model. This A-LCA was used to (i) assess the environmental performance of the symbiosis model vs. a no-symbiosis model and (ii) compare the environmental impacts of IM and IO production vs. their respective alternatives. The results revealed that the symbiosis model introduces a meaningful change in terms of environmental footprint by reducing CO2 emissions by 80% and fossil resources depletion by 83% compared to the no-symbiosis model. The higher sustainability of the IM and IO produced using the symbiosis model was also demonstrated, as CO2 emissions were reduced by at least 55% and 83% when compared to the best FM and VOs alternatives, respectively.
Highlights
Global food production has nearly tripled since 1960 to meet the demands of the growing population
Feeding Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) was the main driver of the environmental impact of the symbiosis model across all three indicators studied (91% for climate change, 94% for fossil resources depletion, and 96% for land use)
Growth and reproduction accounted for 47% of the overall environmental impact of energy used across all three indicators
Summary
Global food production has nearly tripled since 1960 to meet the demands of the growing population. Diet evolution has led to an increased need for animal protein: per capita fish food consumption grew from 9.0 kg in 1961 to 20.5 kg in 2018 [1] and per capita livestock consumption grew from 23.1 kg in 1961 to 43.2 kg in 2013 [2]. This increasing demand for animal protein stimulated the demand for feed ingredients thereby intensifying the pressure on limited natural resources [3]. This provides a compelling reason to explore locally available feed ingredients
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