Purpose: Renewable energy produced from wind turbines and solar photovoltaics (PV) has rapidly increased its share in global energy markets. At the same time, interest in producing hydrocarbons via power-to-X (PtX) approaches using renewables has grown as the technology has matured. However, there exist knowledge gaps related to environmental impacts of some PtX approaches. Power-to-food (PtF) application is one of those approaches. To evaluate the environmental impacts of different PtF approaches, life cycle assessment was performed. Methods: The theoretical environmental potential of a novel concept of PtX technologies was investigated. Because PtX approaches have usually multiple technological solutions, such as the studied PtF application can have, several technological setups were chosen for the study. PtF application is seen as potentially being able to alleviate concerns about the sustainability of the global food sector, for example, as regards the land and water use impacts of food production. This study investigated four different environmental impact categories for microbial protein (MP) production via different technological setups of PtF from a cradle-to-gate perspective. The investigated impact categories include global warming potential, blue-water use, land use, and eutrophication. The research was carried out using a life cycle impact assessment method. Results and discussion: The results for PtF processes were compared with the impacts of other MP production technologies and soybean production. The results indicate that significantly lower environmental impact can be achieved with PtF compared with the other protein production processes studied. The best-case PtF technology setups cause considerably lower land occupation, eutrophication, and blue-water consumption impacts compared with soybean production. However, the energy source used and the electricity-to-biomass efficiency of the bioreactor greatly affect the sustainability of the PtF approach. Some energy sources and technological choices result in higher environmental impacts than other MP and soybean production. When designing PtF production facilities, special attention should thus be given to the technology used. Conclusions: With some qualifications, PtF can be considered an option for improving global food security at minimal environmental impact. If the MP via the introduced application substitutes the most harmful practices of production other protein sources, the saved resources could be used to, for example, mitigation purposes or to improve food security elsewhere. However, there still exist challenges, such as food safety–related issues, to be solved before PtF application can be used for commercial use.

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.