CLEAN Palm: Scale-up and Genetic Tools for Sustainable UK Palm Oil Production

** 为什么我们在英国使用棕榈油 ** 棕榈油是所有油料作物中使用最广泛的，每年生产超过6900万吨。棕榈油市场预计将继续以每年约2%的速度增长。棕榈油的主要用途是作为食用油和食品配料，占全球总用量的70%。棕榈油味道中性，质地光滑，可以给食品带来吸引人的口感。棕榈油的高稳定性意味着它可以延长加工食品的保质期。英国食品公司从作为经济作物种植的树木中采购棕榈油的缺点 ** 棕榈油被认为是英国和许多其他国家不可持续的原因有几个。棕榈油的生产与严重的森林砍伐有关，特别是在东南亚，这导致了栖息地破坏，生物多样性丧失和气候变化。预计到2020年，棕榈油种植园的增长将向大气中增加超过5.58亿公吨的二氧化碳，超过加拿大化石燃料的总排放量。棕榈油的种植通常涉及使用有害的杀虫剂和化肥，这会污染水道并危害当地社区。最后，将棕榈油从生产国运输到英国需要大量的能源，并导致温室气体排放。从可持续发展的角度来看，这意味着棕榈油的生产和消费可能对环境和社会产生重大的负面影响，使其成为英国和其他寻求减少环境足迹和促进可持续实践的国家的不可持续选择。Clean Food Group的解决方案 ** 由于消费者对棕榈油等原料中饱和脂肪的健康和可持续替代品感兴趣，总部位于英国的食品技术中小企业Clean Food Group Ltd正在商业化一种使用微生物精确发酵生产棕榈油的替代技术。Clean Palm项目汇集了世界领先的食品技术企业家，化学工程师，合成生物学家和微生物进化专家团队。这个为期18个月的项目将使英国的棕榈油生产达到工业规模，使用清洁食品集团专有的微生物和工艺。为清洁棕榈项目提供资金将使英国在新兴的微生物石油领域比美国的C16 Biosciences等海外公司更具竞争优势。

**Why we use Palm oil in the UK**Palm oil is the most widely used of all oil crops, with over 69 million tonnes produced annually. The market for palm oil is projected to continue expanding at a rate of approximately 2% per year. The main application for palm oil, accounting for 70% of total global use, is as a cooking oil and food ingredient. Palm oil is neutral-tasting and has a smooth texture, which can give food products an appealing mouth-feel. The high stability of palm oil means it can contributes extending the shelf life for processed foods.**The drawbacks of UK food companies sourcing Palm oil from trees grown as cash crops**Palm oil is considered unsustainable for the UK and many other countries for several reasons. The production of palm oil is associated with significant deforestation, particularly in Southeast Asia, which contributes to habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. The growth of palm oil plantations is expected to add over 558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2020, surpassing the total emissions from Canada's fossil fuels.The cultivation of palm oil often involves the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers, which can pollute waterways and harm local communities. Finally, the transportation of palm oil from producing countries to the UK requires significant amounts of energy and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. From a sustainability standpoint, this means that the production and consumption of palm oil can have significant negative impacts on both the environment and society, making it an unsustainable option for the UK and other countries seeking to reduce their environmental footprint and promote sustainable practices.**A solution from Clean Food Group**With significant consumer interest in healthy and sustainable alternatives to saturated fats from ingredients such as Palm Oil, the UK-based foodtech SME, Clean Food Group Ltd are commercialising an alternative technology for Palm oil production using precision fermentation of microorganisms. The CLEAN Palm project brings together a world-leading team of foodtech entrepreneurs, chemical engineers, synthetic biologists and experts in microbial evolution. The 18-month project will enable UK-based production of Palm oil at industrial scale, using microbes and processes that are proprietary to the Clean Food Group. Funding the CLEAN Palm project will give the UK a competitive edge over companies overseas, such as C16 Biosciences in the US, in the emerging microbial oil space.