In this guest post, we find that lab-grown meat should not be considered a Climate Change solution. Based on industry-funded studies it will never achieve the economies of scale needed to make a reasonable dent in our meat consumption.
This article seems to take the stance that since lab-grown meat might not be adopted by everyone, that it won’t solve the entire climate crisis and therefore takes away from other potential solutions.
I hate that kind of all-or-nothing sensationalism. Who’s claiming that lab-grown meat will “solve” climate change to begin with? Is it not worth pursuing things that will help regardless?
It’s a rather bizarre argument, essentially saying “it’s not the whole solution so it’s not a solution at all”
The article dismisses lab grown meat because the technology might cost $450m to build one 10,000 metric ton per annum producing factory, claiming it won’t work because of economies of scale. But they clearly have no understanding of economies of scale. There is economies of scale in the building of factories and reactor production too. One novel reactor is expensive and difficult to maintain, but a global chain of 100s of factories become much cheaper to build individually and maintain as you have a whole supply chain and supporting infrastructure built out.
A good example of this is Apple’s Vision Pro. The 1st iteration of this technology will be prohibitively expensive for most people. But by starting production Apple is stimulating the building of factories and infrastructure to build all the component parts at scale. Version 2 will be cheaper per unit, as will Version 3. The production capacity will increase reducing cost, even if the components iteritively get more advanced and complex from generation to generation. It’s an expensive proposition for investors up front, but the long term potential to scale up is what makes it so powerful.
A “bio-reactor” to make meat is the same - the more you build, the more you invest in the supporting infrastructure, the cheaper it gets. There will be a risk barrier to starting, but it’s crazy to dismiss the whole thing based on the projected cost of the first industrial scale factory. This is similar to Fusion power; the ITER fusion reactor in France is crazily expensive but the idea is the lessons learnt and the build out of the supportive infrastructure is what will move Fusion from a lab experiement to a real world source of power.
The reality is there is no one single solution to climate change, it will by multiple different things happening together that will improve the climate situation. Lab Grown Meat will help reduce methane from animals, while renewable energy will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and Electric Vehicles with renewables will do the same and so on.
It’s a rather bizarre argument, essentially saying “it’s not the whole solution so it’s not a solution at all”
Lawdamercy, can you please say it louder for the people in the back whinging that they refuse to vote for Biden because his Climate Bill wasn’t perfectly everything all at once? In the face of the Republican denialist obstructionism, it’s pretty fucking miraculous. The ultimate solution to climate change is going to be a patchwork quilt of a million different tiny solutions
I’m in the same school of thought of not dismissing things that would actually change many of the problematic issues that all have contributed their part to create the predicament we find ourselves in. If it’s not just another greenwashing to profit off climate change awareness, then let’s do it.
But it is a predicament. While I think we should do everything constructive to stop damaging the environment, I don’t think this with the illusion that there are solutions, but just that we should do the right things regardless of their effectiveness.
I think the article is worried government will be distracted by cultured meat possibilities and use it as an excuse not to do anything about the problem of the current cattle industry. Politicians might think a little subsidy for fake meat is all they need to do and not actively discourage cattle (which is hard politically).
This article seems to take the stance that since lab-grown meat might not be adopted by everyone, that it won’t solve the entire climate crisis and therefore takes away from other potential solutions.
I hate that kind of all-or-nothing sensationalism. Who’s claiming that lab-grown meat will “solve” climate change to begin with? Is it not worth pursuing things that will help regardless?
It’s a rather bizarre argument, essentially saying “it’s not the whole solution so it’s not a solution at all”
The article dismisses lab grown meat because the technology might cost $450m to build one 10,000 metric ton per annum producing factory, claiming it won’t work because of economies of scale. But they clearly have no understanding of economies of scale. There is economies of scale in the building of factories and reactor production too. One novel reactor is expensive and difficult to maintain, but a global chain of 100s of factories become much cheaper to build individually and maintain as you have a whole supply chain and supporting infrastructure built out.
A good example of this is Apple’s Vision Pro. The 1st iteration of this technology will be prohibitively expensive for most people. But by starting production Apple is stimulating the building of factories and infrastructure to build all the component parts at scale. Version 2 will be cheaper per unit, as will Version 3. The production capacity will increase reducing cost, even if the components iteritively get more advanced and complex from generation to generation. It’s an expensive proposition for investors up front, but the long term potential to scale up is what makes it so powerful.
A “bio-reactor” to make meat is the same - the more you build, the more you invest in the supporting infrastructure, the cheaper it gets. There will be a risk barrier to starting, but it’s crazy to dismiss the whole thing based on the projected cost of the first industrial scale factory. This is similar to Fusion power; the ITER fusion reactor in France is crazily expensive but the idea is the lessons learnt and the build out of the supportive infrastructure is what will move Fusion from a lab experiement to a real world source of power.
The reality is there is no one single solution to climate change, it will by multiple different things happening together that will improve the climate situation. Lab Grown Meat will help reduce methane from animals, while renewable energy will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and Electric Vehicles with renewables will do the same and so on.
Lawdamercy, can you please say it louder for the people in the back whinging that they refuse to vote for Biden because his Climate Bill wasn’t perfectly everything all at once? In the face of the Republican denialist obstructionism, it’s pretty fucking miraculous. The ultimate solution to climate change is going to be a patchwork quilt of a million different tiny solutions
I’m in the same school of thought of not dismissing things that would actually change many of the problematic issues that all have contributed their part to create the predicament we find ourselves in. If it’s not just another greenwashing to profit off climate change awareness, then let’s do it.
But it is a predicament. While I think we should do everything constructive to stop damaging the environment, I don’t think this with the illusion that there are solutions, but just that we should do the right things regardless of their effectiveness.
I think the article is worried government will be distracted by cultured meat possibilities and use it as an excuse not to do anything about the problem of the current cattle industry. Politicians might think a little subsidy for fake meat is all they need to do and not actively discourage cattle (which is hard politically).