Replacing animal-based foods with alternative proteins would unlock land for carbon removal, say researchers

[redqueen]

The study showed even just a 30% reduction would be enough to allow for significant improvement.

Researchers report that replacing 50% of animal products with alternative proteins by 2050 could free up enough agricultural land to generate renewable energy equivalent in volume to today's coal-generated power while simultaneously removing substantial CO2 from the atmosphere.

The study, published in the journal One Earth, is based on a CO2-removal method known as "bioenergy with carbon capture and storage" (BECCS), which involves cultivating quickly growing crops whose biomass can then be stored permanently in geological formations or used as a feedstock to produce renewable energy.

...

"Animal-source foods use resources inefficiently because animals consume more food than they provide, and feeding the animals requires considerable land and water," write the researchers, led by environmental scientist Oscar Rueda of Leiden University. "We show that a protein transition could free up extensive resources for BECCS to achieve substantial energy and carbon-removal potentials."

To test how a dietary shift might augment carbon removal, the researchers estimated how much land would be freed up if humans replaced 10% to 100% of animal protein with plant-based or other alternative proteins. Then, they estimated the potential for using this land for biomass production while keeping sufficient land and water available to sustain ecosystems and meet global food and water needs.

...

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-animal-based-foods-alternative-proteins.amp

[mucifer]

1. Yes, many environmentalists wont give up meat. Never mind the cruelty

[redqueen]

2. If they're not willing to at least cut back significantly

then imo they're not actually environmentalists.

Gotta walk the walk

And yes I know the usual arguments about rare earth minerals and other issues - I think the same of people who replace their devices more often than needed, or who support fast fashion at all. I don't expect people to go off grid, but reasonable effort is a reasonable expectation.

[Tickle]

3. I enjoy meat and would like to continue

eating it, but that's just me

[redqueen]

4. I would like to eat pizza and french fries often

but it's not healthy.

Eating meat often is similarly not healthy for the planet.

[GuppyGal]

7. We are talking about cutting back ....not stopping. nt

[ms liberty]

5. Is it our consumption of meat or Americans demand that each grocery store offer an abundance of meat to choose from

Seriously, when you go to the grocery store, the meat cases are full to overflowing at all times (unless it's about to snow in the South, then it might get a bit picked over) Very rarely do the meat cases NOT have plenty of any cut of beef, pork or chicken your heart desires. It wasn't like that when I was a kid. Not that the choices were paltry, but there wasn't all this oversupply.
Supply side economics in agriculture. I think that is the ultimate problem.

[redqueen]

9. Industrial agriculture is a huge problem

in many, many ways.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. Plant based Protein sources tear my lower GI up.

Like Soy, legumes, and even Whey Protein powders, most Dairy sources are a no-no for me.

It's animal, fowl, or sea food protein for me.

[redqueen]

8. Imo those who can tolerate those sources of protein

have an obligation to consume even fewer animal products, to offset the requirements of those who can't.

[Mossfern]

10. Red meat is inflammatory

I've considered going Vegan, but don't know where to start.
Animal cruelty and the environment are very important to me.

I have severe inflammation in my spine so have been looking at anti-inflammatory diets.
Number one and two dietary culprits are sugar and red meat.

I'm getting bored with chicken -do eat salmon, tuna and cod, but the wild caught fish is horribly diminished and contaminated by nearby farm fishing.

I guess one could keep their own chickens for eggs, or rely on a local farmer that has legitimately free range chickens. Mushrooms will be my new 'meat'.

[redqueen]

11. Yes, health is another reason I'm switching to a whole food plant based diet. I spent years cutting back

Quit pork, then beef, and now finally chicken. Still working on eliminating dairy, fish, and eggs - but they're sometimes foods, not staples.

I really don't miss meat as much as I thought I would. But if you can eat tofu there are ways to prepare it that make it taste meaty (at least to me). Heck even roasted vegan feta tastes meaty to me.

I like trying new recipes, and have found a few on this channel that I like. Maybe have a look and see if there's a few you might like? She has a walnut mushroom meat substitute that I haven't tried but will soon. Good luck!

[Mossfern]

14. Thanks for the link!

I need to work up a good supply of diverse recipes.
There's no way that brown rice and beans and sauteed veggies almost every night will suffice.

[redqueen]

17. Hope you find something you like!

And yeah variety is really important to me too, that channel shows a lot of 'building block' type recipes that can be mixed and matched to make different things - the video below shows a few of those. Her channel is really my favorite for vegan recipes but I'm always on the lookout for more!

[womanofthehills]

21. Latest studies - grassfed beef is very healthy

And eggs from free range chickens contain every vitamin & mineral.

You have to eat a ton of legumes (often GMO & loaded with pesticides) to to get the proteins & amino acids you get from meat and eggs.

I’m lucky to live in ranch country & buy my meat from a friend - grass fed/grass finished and raise my own chickens for eggs. My favorite lunch is meat and eggs with fruit and vegetables.

Thousands of people online all reporting how their health improved big time on the carnivore diet.

No company is going to build a biomass plant that has to be fed continuously when wind farms can now produce 3 times as much energy as a nuclear reactor. We fought a biomass plant in our community - they wanted to cut trees down south of us to burn and then have huge trucks bring wood to the biomass plant all day long. Biomass is so far below wind & solar .

“Red Meat Is Not a Health Risk. A New Study Slams Years of Shoddy Research.”

https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2022/11/14/red_meat_is_not_a_health_risk_a_new_study_slams_years_of_shoddy_research_864601.html

[redqueen]

24. That old study is misleading at best.

But the beef industry has lots and lots of money to throw around funding studies to try to avoid any further losses in income.

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/health/research-red-meat-good-for-you-debunked/

[MissB]

12. Do you eat lentils, beans etc?

One of my favorite meals is red lentil dal and naan. None of that needs to have dairy. The dal uses butter but the country crock vegan butter sticks (olive oil) are a great sub.

The dish is served over rice usually. Has diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, coconut milk and seasonings. Tastes even better the next day.

I also make this fabulous Spanish Bean soup that has an amazing smoky flavor to it thanks to smoked paprika. It too is vegan, and comes together pretty fast (really fast if you use an electric pressure cooker, but reasonably fast on the stovetop). The base beam for that is garbanzo (chickpeas). I serve it with from-scratch cornbread (which I don’t make vegan but you can, not too hard!)

Those are two of my favorite dishes for fall/winter.

Another meal is roasted sweet potatoes topped with black beans, sautéed bell peppers/onion and avocado. If you have to have sour cream on it, there are vegan subs that are great. I fancy up the sour cream with some lime juice and powdered lime zest.

We also like lentil tacos (using the brown lentils).

Also a roasted squash dish that includes roasted squash (usually butternut) and roasted red onion on a simple tortilla made from canned pumpkin and flour, and then some avocado, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese on top. It’s filling though it doesn’t have a lot of protein. I’m ok with that because not every meal not have will be chock full of protein.

[Mossfern]

13. Yes, I eat legumes, but now I need to stay away from gluten too

As a matter of fact, last night I made lentil barley soup for dinner. I use Marmite to give it a "beefy" broth.
I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian in the past so I do have some background.

I had a heart attack while being vegetarian - a widow maker that I survived. So I said "fuck it", let's stop at a Burger King on the way home from my three week stay in the hospital. I was MAD. I was only 46 years old. (turned out it was a coronary aneurysm).

The docs said that I probably survived because of my diet and exercise history.
What I really need is a variety of recipes that my husband will also enjoy/accept.
He's informed me that he will continue buying favorites for himself - like deli stuff, and if he buys ice cream that he will make sure that he doesn't get my favorite flavors. That's a start.

You can lead a horse to water ......

[redqueen]

18. That Spanish soup sounds delicious

If you have a recipe pls share if not I'll search for it

[MissB]

22. From The Oregonian

https://recipes.oregonlive.com/recipes/spanish-bean-soup-potaje-de-garbanzos

It is yummy!

[redqueen]

25. Thank you!!

Yum!

[Torchlight]

15. Reduce, Renew, Reuse, Recycle

I think it goes far beyond a civic obligation, and rises to a shared duty as humans all living on the planet, and ultimately sharing the same fate. That's an amalgam of Carl Sagan and Albert Schweitzer distilled down to one sentiment my house attempts. We fail at it. A lot. But we keep trying, and we ignore the buzzing of "it won't change anything if XYZ doesn't do it too!" that often shows up in little word balloons over the heads of the self-absorbed.

[redqueen]

19. Yes that's exactly how I think about it too

None of us can be perfect but all of us can make an effort to do the best we can every day.

[hunter]

16. Aside from burning fossil fuels, agriculture is the most environmentally destructive thing we humans do.

Trashing the landscape with "renewable" energy schemes won't save the world.

Growing corn for ethanol fuel or vegetable oils for biodiesel is an environmentally destructive business, every bit as horrible as industrial meat production.

Land that's no longer producing feed for meat and dairy animals ought to be restored to a natural state.

[redqueen]

20. Heck yes - rewilding gives me so much hope!

I love watching Mossy Earth's videos and Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't - I love supporting people and organizations that work to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity.



Editing to share some videos

[NameAlreadyTaken]

23. Also, meat is awful.

[redqueen]

26. As are the things that are done to animals to get it ...

it hurts to think about.

[Thunderbeast]

27. The truth about carbon reduction... Personal behaviors must change.

Many want to believe that a miracle technology will save us. We can be certain that climate driven famine will not leave the wealthy hungry. The rich will arm themselves to protect their entitled diets and lifestyles.

The "inconvenient truth" remains that we need to live in denser cities supported by transit and reduce meat consumption if our grandndchildren are going to avoid climate disaster.

[Xolodno]

28. Cattle industry will lobby hard to stop anything that reduces their market share.

Just a fact. If they can keep the Bison population down with a controversial rubella excuse (just so they don't grow enough in number that it competes with government grasslands), they will do their best to prevent this.