Relevance: GS-3: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.

Key Phrases: coagulation, tofu, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, fungus, decarbonization, bioreactor, chitosan, polysaccharides, greenhouse gases, decompose.

Why in News?

• The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has emphasized the need for enormous change if we are to keep within the 1.5 degree Celsius warming limit.

Background

• The IPCC prepares comprehensive Assessment Reports about knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response options.
• The third and final part of the IPCC’s sixth Assessment Report, released recently says that unless global greenhouse gas emission peak by 2025, and decline atleast 43 percent from the current levels by 2030 there is little hope for meeting the 1.5 degree Celsius.

Here are some emerging technologies in the food, transport and energy sectors with great potential to address the climate challenge.

1. Alternative protein sources
   • The IPCC report highlights the potential of plant-based diets, not only for achieving emissions reductions but also improving our collective well-being more generally.
   • Plant-based protein sources, including "fake meat" products, are increasingly being produced to mimic the appearance, flavour and texture of animal meat.
   • Traditionally, alternative proteins such as tofu were made from simple coagulation of soybean milk. A few decades ago we saw the emergence of mycoprotein, which is derived from fungus (and has been popularised by the brand Quorn).
   • More novel alternative proteins require advanced extrusion techniques and artificial colours and flavours to mimic the texture and flavour of animal protein.
   • Then there are cell-based meat alternatives, also called "lab- grown", cultured" or "in-vitro" meats. These are made using advanced bioengineering techniques to grow meat cells from a sample (starter cells) extracted from an animal, inside a device called a "bioreactor".
   • Cell-grown meat is an emerging technology. It went on sale for the first time in 2020, in Singapore.
   • Compared with livestock meat, plant-based meats produce 30-90 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions, require 40-98 per cent less land, 70-80 per cent less water, and releases 85-94 per cent less reactive nitrogen (which can lead to excessive algal growth that starves marine life of oxygen).
   • Moreover, alternative proteins have the second-biggest market potential of all the categories in the food and agribusiness sector. They are expected to deliver some A$5.4 billion in savings in carbon and water by 2030.
2. Edible and biodegradable packaging
   • As the name suggests, edible or biodegradable food packaging is designed to be eaten or to biodegrade efficiently.
   • Edible packaging is made of natural polymers extracted from plant sources, which can be made into various films and coatings.
   • Some examples are: chitosan-based packaging, made mostly from seafood industry waste whey-based packaging, made from dairy industry waste seaweed polysaccharides extracted from seaweed.
   • Besides being environmentally friendly, edible packaging could enhance the nutritional value of packaged food, by incorporating compounds known as "nutraceuticals" which can improve the nutrient composition of packaged food.
   • Adding antioxidants and antimicrobials to packaging can also increase the shelf life of food.
   • Much work needs to be done to make edible packaging mainstream, but it has proven a good alternative to plastic bottles for marathon runners.
   • Globally, only about 17% of plastics were recycled in 2015. The rest ended up in landfill, oceans and rivers - damaging land and marine systems - or generated carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions during incineration.
   • Fossil-fuel based plastics can take 20-500 years to decompose, whereas biodegradable packaging decomposes within three to six months depending on the material.
   • It's estimated the global biodegradable packaging market will grow
     by 17 per cent each year, and be valued at US$12.06 billion by 2025.
   • Innovation in edible and biodegradable packaging could go a long way to support these reduction targets.
3. Electric vehicles
   • While they've been a hot topic for a while now, electric vehicles can't be overlooked.
   • The IPCC identified electric vehicles as having the largest decarbonisation potential for land-based transport.
   • Why? Because increased uptake of electric vehicles, facilitated by falling costs, has already delivered emissions reductions. And market shares for electric vehicles have tripled in two years.
   • Research shows electric vehicles could transform the transportation sector, if coupled with a 100 per cent renewable electricity system where all energy used is produced from renewable sources.
   • Electric vehicles need to be charged, but this can be controlled or uncontrolled. Uncontrolled charging lets the user charge their vehicle any time of the day, while controlled charging relies on maximising benefits by charging during the day, for example, when sunlight is abundant.
4. Hydrogen's vast potential
   • Solar and wind power are both well-established and feasible options for reducing emissions - and are even cheaper than non- renewable sources.
   • But at the same time, both are variable energy sources which are dependent on weather, season, geography and time of day. This can lead to supply gaps, for which alternative sources need to be considered.
   • Hydrogen, which produces no carbon emissions when burned, is a potential option. It can be produced by splitting water using electricity from wind and solar sources. It also provides a way to store renewable energy for later use.
   • With the declining cost of renewables, and the scaling-up of hydrogen deployment, hydrogen production costs are expected to fall by 30 per cent by 2030.
   • Increasing hydrogen energy storage technologies could lead to further reductions in the cost of variable renewable electricity systems.
   • The IPCC report also flags the potential for hydrogen in achieving emissions reductions in the aviation sector, but notes this will first require improvements in technology and cost reductions.

Conclusion

• Natural systems around the world are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increase, and these temperature increases are very likely to be the result of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases.
• Now its high time that suitable and immediate steps are taken in order to mitigate this menace.

Sources: Economic-Times 

Mains Questions

Q. Discuss in detail various emerging technologies in the food, transport and energy sectors with great potential to address the climate challenge? (250 words).