Chinese scientists create food from thin air

Researchers in China have achieved a scientific feat that could solve the problem of world hunger and clean up the atmosphere at the same time. They have developed a method to convert carbon dioxide directly into starch, achieving ten times the efficiency of natural photosynthesis. This groundbreaking process promises to radically change agriculture and industrial food production in the coming decade.

A team of experts from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology has developed an artificial starch synthesis system that does not require arable land or traditional farming. Using an innovative chemical-enzymatic process, they were able to isolate carbon and convert it into complex carbohydrates. Under laboratory conditions, this system produced as much starch in one year as would be obtained from a corn field measuring approximately 2,500 square meters.

Natural photosynthesis in plants, which have leaves ranging from 5 cm to 50 cm long, is a relatively messy process, where only a small part of the sun's energy is stored as food. The Chinese method, however, works at a speed of up to 10 times faster, which could drastically reduce the cost of producing animal feed and raw materials for bioplastics. If the technology were to be scaled up to an industrial scale, a ton of such starch could cost less than €320 in the future, making it competitive with natural starch.

This achievement not only brings greater food security, but also an important tool in the fight against climate change. By directly capturing CO2 from the air and converting it into stable materials, it could reduce greenhouse gas concentrations. Scientists are now working to reduce the energy requirements of the process to make the technology economically viable for the global market by 2030.