LCA of cultivated meat production in 2030

Environmental research and consultancy organization CE Delft conducted a prospective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of cultivated meat (CM, also sometimes referred to as cell-based meat, clean meat, cultured meat and in-vitro meat) to provide insight into the environmental impact of this product when produced at commercial scales in 2030. In it, CM is compared to conventional meats (beef, pork, chicken) and plant-based alternatives. This is the first LCA study which uses primary data from multiple CM companies and from associated companies in the CM supply chain, cross-checked by independent experts.

It can be concluded that CM can offer environmental gains compared to conventional meats, but has on average higher impacts than fully plant-based options. CM uses much less land compared to all conventional meats (due to more efficient conversion of feed into meat) and has less nitrogen emissions, both of which lead to reduced biodiversity impacts. It does have higher energy use than conventional meat production. Nonetheless, it has a much lower carbon footprint than beef and is comparable to current global average footprints for pork and chicken when produced using conventional energy. When using sustainable energy, CM has a lower carbon footprint than ambitious production benchmarks for all conventional meats.