Finnish researchers are testing a process that could result in high quality single-cell protein being made out of sawdust, which can later be developed into fish feed.
Finnish sawmills produce 3.3 million cubic meters of sawdust per year. While some is used for energy production, this process is often too expensive to be sustainable, and a substantial amount is therefore piling up and remaining unused.
Meanwhile, as the global population continues to boom and the amount of arable land decreases, food scarcity is likely to become an increasing problem.
Research Scientist Risto Korpinen of Luke Natural Resources Institute Finland believes sawdust could be the key to solving future food scarcity, and aims to make high quality single-cell protein out of sawdust, which can then be used to develop fish feed.
According to Korpinen, the use of soy and wild fish as the main foodstuff in fish farms will ultimately prove unsustainable, with the use of wild fish leading to depleted global fish stocks, and soy plantations contributing to deforestation and requiring lots of arable land that could be put to better use.
Korpinen believes sawdust is the ideal raw material for fish feed, due to the fact humans have not already found a good use for it. For instance, while starch could be used for protein creation using the same processes, it can also be used to feed humans.
Initial experiments were conducted as part of the project ‘MonoCell – High-quality single cell protein for fish feed’ in August this year by a team of ten researchers with diverse expertise, including food science and nutrition.
The entire project involves a number of procedures and is scheduled for completion during the third quarter of 2017, at which point researchers will perform a life cycle analysis to determine how much energy and chemicals have been used throughout the process.
Korpinen believes pulp mills have the right facilities on-site to develop and use the MonoCell innovations, creating new business streams and thus increasing profitability.
Image credit: Luke
Source: Luke
