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I wrote this several months before your important NYT article today:

The most practical thing the world can do for the environment and climate change is non-photosynthetic single cell protein (SCP) that’s sufficiently low cost to substitute for fishmeal and soybean meal in animal feed. Yes, people should dramatically reduce meat consumption, but until they do, the numbers are compelling:

1. The world has lost almost half of its historic forest cover, almost all due to agriculture. Agriculture is a source of CO2 emissions, forests are a sink.

2. Almost 80% of all agricultural land is used for animal feed and forage.

3. Offsets can save forests here and there, but the world is still cutting down 10 million hectares a year of forests. We’re clearing the Amazon and other critical habitats and carbon sinks to graze cattle and grow soybeans.

4. In the 1980’s ICI produced single cell protein call Pruteen, which is fully tested and approved in the EU. ICI sold more SCP than all other alternative proteins combined have since sold. ICI stopped production because of the high price and volatility of methanol. The organism ICI used growing on methanol as feedstock are by far the most efficient way to produce protein, which is also suitable for human consumption.

5. Our company, Cvictus, has put together the key ICI experts, replicated the process at lab scale, and will soon start pilot production. We also have proven technology to produce very low-cost, low-CO2 methanol, and plan to use our methanol in an integrated process to produce large volumes of SCP.

6. Each tonne of our non-photosynthetic protein, which we call Cprute, that substitutes for soybean meal can save 4.5 acres of forest and each acre of forest saved can remove 3.8 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. So net-net, one tonne of our protein actually removes 17 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, and directly restores the biosphere. A million tonnes of Cprute can help save or restore an area the size of two Yellowstone National Parks, removing gigatonnes of CO2.

7. I’d love to discuss this and send you more information if you’re interested in learning more.

Brett Wilcox, CEO

www.Cvictus.com

+1-503-805-0727

Expand full comment

I wrote this several months before your important NYT article today:

The most practical thing the world can do for the environment and climate change is non-photosynthetic single cell protein (SCP) that’s sufficiently low cost to substitute for fishmeal and soybean meal in animal feed. Yes, people should dramatically reduce meat consumption, but until they do, the numbers are compelling:

1. The world has lost almost half of its historic forest cover, almost all due to agriculture. Agriculture is a source of CO2 emissions, forests are a sink.

2. Almost 80% of all agricultural land is used for animal feed and forage.

3. Offsets can save forests here and there, but the world is still cutting down 10 million hectares a year of forests. We’re clearing the Amazon and other critical habitats and carbon sinks to graze cattle and grow soybeans.

4. In the 1980’s ICI produced single cell protein call Pruteen, which is fully tested and approved in the EU. ICI sold more SCP than all other alternative proteins combined have since sold. ICI stopped production because of the high price and volatility of methanol. The organism ICI used growing on methanol as feedstock are by far the most efficient way to produce protein, which is also suitable for human consumption.

5. Our company, Cvictus, has put together the key ICI experts, replicated the process at lab scale, and will soon start pilot production. We also have proven technology to produce very low-cost, low-CO2 methanol, and plan to use our methanol in an integrated process to produce large volumes of SCP.

6. Each tonne of our non-photosynthetic protein, which we call Cprute, that substitutes for soybean meal can save 4.5 acres of forest and each acre of forest saved can remove 3.8 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. So net-net, one tonne of our protein actually removes 17 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, and directly restores the biosphere. A million tonnes of Cprute can help save or restore an area the size of two Yellowstone National Parks, removing gigatonnes of CO2.

7. I’d love to discuss this and send you more information if you’re interested in learning more.

Brett Wilcox, CEO

www.Cvictus.com

+1-503-805-0727

Expand full comment