Mitigating the sustainability challenges related to agriculture and ensuring adequate availability of nutritious food requires an increase in the use of sustainable alternative protein sources. Edible insects are considered to be a sustainable protein source and a possible substitute for meat. There are many readily available edible insect species with many competing utilization possibilities, which, from the producers’ perspective, increases the complexity of the area. Through a consumer survey and expert interviews, this study recognizes four pathways to increasing the use of edible insects in Western countries and especially in Finland where the survey and interviews were conducted: (1) producing a variety of insect-based food products, especially food products where insects are not recognizable as such and the food is in a familiar form; (2) producing edible insect food products which could replace greenhouse gas emission-intensive animal proteins; (3) focusing on the price, taste, and availability of insect food; and (4) using insects as animal feed. Our findings provide information on the prospects of the studied pathways in terms of consumption and production. Technological development is expected to decrease the price of insect-based food products, but at the same time, the increased use of edible insects faces challenges related to eating habits, contradictory perceptions about the sustainability implications of insect farming, and the availability of insect-based products.

Willow biochar can help to sequestrate carbon. However, biomasses should not be grown on arable lands, as it would increase competition with food production and lead to sustainability issues such as increased food prices and decreased food security. The purpose of this study is to calculate the carbon footprint (CF) of willow biochar in Finland and assess the greenhouse gas compensation potential of marginal lands if they are utilized for willow biochar production. The CF of willow biochar is inadequately assessed together with marginal lands in the literature. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of willow biochar was conducted. The results were then applied to assess the total CF of marginal lands. It was found that the CF of willow biochar is −1875 kgCO₂eq t⁻¹ of dry biochar. Grown on marginal lands in Finland, willow biochar could compensate 7.7% of yearly agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. On buffer zones, willow biochar could also compensate some of the emissions depending on the zone size. The results of the study support current findings of biochar as a carbon negative product. The study also indicates that willow biochar produced in marginal lands can be used to compensate agricultural greenhouse gas emissions to some extent.

Plastics are essential materials for modern societies, but their production contributes to significant environmental issues. Power-to-X processes could produce plastics from captured CO₂ and hydrogen with renewable electricity, but these technologies may also face challenges from environmental perspective. This paper focuses on environmental sustainability assessment of CO₂-based low-density polyethylene (LDPE) compared to bio-based LDPE. Life cycle assessment has been applied to study climate impacts and land use related biodiversity impacts of different plastic production scenarios. According to the climate impact results, the carbon footprint of the produced plastic can be negative if the energy used is from wind, solar, or bioenergy and the carbon captured within the plastic is considered. In terms of biodiversity, land-use related biodiversity impacts seem to be lower from CO₂-based polyethylene compared to sugarcane-based polyethylene. Forest biomass use for heat production in CO₂-based polyethylene poses a risk to significantly increase biodiversity impacts. Taken together, these results suggest that CO₂-based LDPE produced with renewable electricity could reduce biodiversity impacts over 96 % while carbon footprint seems to be 6.5 % higher when compared to sugarcane-based polyethylene.