Abstract
The lack of protein sources in several parts of the world is triggering the search for locally produced and sustainable alternatives. Insect production is recognized as a potential solution. This study is a life cycle assessment (LCA) of food industry side streams transformation via Hermetia illucens into intermediate products applicable for feed and food purposes. It relies on attributional modelling for the estimation of the most impacting stages of insect production and on consequential modelling for the estimation of potential benefits or risks for the agri-food system. The consequential LCA included effects on the market, associated with upstream increase in feed (increase in commercial feed production) or downstream availability of insect product (substitution of fertilizer, protein concentrate for feed or chicken meat). Attributional and consequential LCAs are followed by sensitivity analyses, which identify the most promising directions towards sustainable insect production and estimate the magnitude of impact reductions if those directions are pursued by the industry. Analyses of the existing pilot process largely correspond with other findings in the literature, indicating fresh insect biomass is almost twice more sustainable than fresh chicken meat. Produced at pilot scale, protein concentrate (insect meal) while being competitive against animal-derived (whey, egg protein, fishmeal) and microalgae, has higher environmental impacts than plant-based meals. Further scenarios illustrate strategies for more sustainable use of environmental resources providing guidance for producers and funding agencies to direct the industry to an impact profile that is lower, than many existing protein sources.
Highlights
Insects are recognized as a potential solution for the global problems associated with the lack of protein sources for feed and food due to the increasing world population (van Huis et al, 2013)
Attributional and consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) are followed by sensitivity analyses, which identify the most promising directions towards sustainable insect production and estimate the magnitude of impact reductions if those directions are pursued by the industry
The diet consisted of commercially available side-streams from the food industry. Modelling of such inputs required the allocation of H. illucens feed
Summary
Insects are recognized as a potential solution for the global problems associated with the lack of protein sources for feed and food due to the increasing world population (van Huis et al, 2013). Many studies highlight the possibility to replace increasingly expensive protein sources of feed (fish meal and soybean meal) (Liu et al, 2017; Loponte et al, 2017), feasible due the potential of agri-food waste, municipal waste (Diener et al, 2011) or manure use for insect feeding (ur Rehman et al, 2017). Salomone with coauthors notes the potential of technologies based on Hermetia as more environmentally preferable alternative for the treatment of biowastes (Salomone et al, 2017). While another group of authors led by Allegretti highlights a better exergy to energy transformation compared to soymeal when renewability and digestibility was taken into account (Allegretti et al, 2018)
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