Environmental Footprints Assessment: The Case For Insect Agriculture Over Traditional Livestock Systems
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Abstract
This review paper provides a comparative analysis of the environmental impacts associated with insect farming versus conventional livestock production. It examines key metrics including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land use, water consumption, and feed conversion efficiency (FCE). Driven by a growing global population and increased demand for sustainable protein, insect farming is emerging as a viable alternative with significant entrepreneurial potential, and as a key component of circular economy models and alignment with broader sustainable development goals. Conventional livestock production is a significant contributor to environmental degradation, responsible for substantial GHG emissions, extensive land and water use, and often inefficient feed conversion. Conventional livestock production contributes significantly to global food system losses and inefficiencies. Only about 6% of the total global agricultural dry biomass produced is ultimately consumed as food by humans. In contrast, farmed insects generally exhibit significantly lower GHG emissions, require drastically less land and water, and demonstrate superior FCE, particularly when organic waste streams are utilized as feed. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) consistently highlight these benefits, though outcomes can vary based on insect species, rearing substrates, and system boundaries. While insect farming presents considerable environmental advantages, challenges such as energy requirements for climate control in rearing facilities, scalability (often linked to profitability), wide variations in margins depending on sales price and operational costs, market development, ethical considerations regarding insect welfare, particularly concerning sentience and slaughter methods, and the need for further research and regulatory development are also discussed. LCAs including waste treatment or by-product utilization, to accurately assess sustainability are crucial tools for a holistic sustainability evaluation of these emerging systems, though standardization of LCA methodologies for insects is still developing. The findings suggest that insect farming holds significant potential to contribute to a more sustainable global food system.
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