Insect protein could be 13.5 times worse for climate than soy

Commissioned by the UK Government, a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) reveals that for 13 out of 16 main environmental impact categories, insect meal may have a higher impacts than the established alternatives such as fish meal and soybean meal.

Up to one fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions derive from meat production, the majority of which is from pig and poultry meat. With around 60% of emissions from pig and poultry meat linked to the production of animal feed, there has been much debate within the sector over the use of alternative animal feed sources with insect-based feed gaining interest as it may require less water, energy and land resource than plant-based products.

In July 2023, the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) commissioned Ricardo’s sustainability team to provide an independent, scientifically robust LCA report exploring how, from an emissions reduction point of view, the production of insect protein might perform as pig and poultry feed compared to conventional soybean and fish stocks.

The research looked at the potential cradle-to-gate – ie. from raw material acquisition to manufacturing and distribution – impacts of using the larvae from Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia illucens) reared from both permitted sources (e.g wheat-based feed) and currently unpermitted sources (e.g food waste, chicken manure).

The associated potential impacts of the BSFL feed were assessed in terms of 16 environmental impact categories, including climate change, acidification, ecotoxicity, land, and water use. Comparative assessments were made for soybean meal grown in Brazil and transported to the UK, and fish meal made from blue whiting caught off the Scottish coast.

The (LCA study was undertaken in compliance with the two ISO standards for life cycle assessments (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044) and, in accordance with these standards, was subject to critical review by an independent panel of experts.

In conclusion, the new LCA shatters the widespread perception that insect farming is a green alternative to traditional animal feed. The study reveals that insect protein could be up to 13.5 times worse for the climate than soy, and up to 4.2 times worse than fish meal.

STUDY FINDINGS SUMMARY
The findings of the study, explained by Ricardo, are as follows:
• The LCA study concluded that insect protein may not yet be the one-size-fits-all sustainable solution it is sometimes portrayed to be given that none of the feeds assessed outperformed any other across all of the 16 categories. Instead, the picture is much more complex and situation-dependent.

• The study found that insect feed could offer potential to decarbonise animal feed if produced under certain appropriate conditions such as using low impact feedstocks to rear the larvae, use of clean energy during production, or by minimising energy usage.

• Furthermore, the study surmised that future research investigating the potential for byproducts from BSFL such as insect oil and frass (exoskeletons, larvae castings, faeces etc.) to improve the insect feed performance would help compile a more complete understanding.

In addition to the LCA, the study investigated current research and data on the use of the BSFL frass byproduct as a fertiliser. It was concluded that:
• More standardisation on the nutrient composition will be needed to assess the usefulness of frass as a fertiliser;
• That there is no consensus on rates of application and there is a paucity of research performing field trials;
• Crucially, there needs to be a thorough investigation of the impact of frass application as a fertiliser at field scales on the wider environmental impacts understanding the fate of nitrogen, its impact on soil GHG emissions and interactions with the resident soil biology.

Globally, research is being undertaken to ascertain the efficacy of insect frass as a fertiliser, but the team found that until these three research gaps have been investigated, the usefulness and safety of frass being spread in large quantities over farmland is unknown.

THE REPORT RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS
The findings from the comprehensive report come at a crucial time as policymakers and investors are being urged to support the development of large-scale insect farming across the UK and Europe, and as the UK government mulls loosening regulations on the sector.

The report raises serious questions about the environmental claims made by the insect industry, particularly regarding its role in tackling climate change.

Key quotes from the report include:
• The LCA results suggest that insect protein may not currently be the solution to decarbonising the animal feed industry. (Page 4)
• This study has found that insect meal has a total climate change impact of between 12.9 to 30.1 kg of CO₂ eq. per kg of protein depending on the feedstock the larvae are reared on, with the food waste-based insect meal at the lower end of this range and the traditional feed-based insect meal at the higher end. This is approximately 5.7 to 13.5 times the climate change impact of soybean meal and 1.8 to 4.2 times the impact of fish meal, as demonstrated in the figure below. (Page 3)

• The traditional feed-fed insect meal has the highest impacts for 13 out of 16 main impact categories. (Page 4; see table on page 16 for the full list)
• This study has found that for many environmental impact categories, the insect meal has higher impacts than the established alternatives. (Page 23)

The full report is available on the DEFRA website.