Lab-Grown Meat Could Slash Emissions and Other Environmental Impacts

Meat grown artificially in a lab would nearly eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventionally raised meat and significantly reduce other environmental impacts of meat production, a new study says. According to the analysis from scientists at Oxford University and Amsterdam University, lab-cultured meat — now being developed by scientists in vitro using tissue engineering techniques — would slash greenhouse gas emissions by 96 percent, compared to current methods of raising livestock. Artificial meat also would require 7 to 45 percent less energy and would use only 1 percent of the land and 4 percent of the water associated with conventional meat production, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. While researchers say cultured meat may never replace conventional meat, it may become part of the solution to feeding the world’s growing population, said Hanna Tomisto, an Oxford researcher and lead author of the study. Currently, livestock raised for meat uses 30 percent of ice-free terrain on the planet, 8 percent of freshwater, and produces 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.