Precision Fermentation and Cellular Agriculture could be a leading example of technologies within an industry that leverages SWB Superpower.

• RethinkX research has shown that alongside the disruption of food and agriculture driven by Precision Fermentation (PF) and Cellular Agriculture (CA) in the 2020s there will be an equally profound disruption of energy based on solar, wind and batteries (SWB).

• Any solar, wind and battery (SWB) based energy system must be sized for the most challenging weeks of winter weather, and will therefore naturally produce an extremely large surplus of clean electricity during other times of year. We call clean energy super power, or SWB Superpower for short. 

• Policymakers, investors and other decision-makers should plan for super power production by solar, wind and battery as well as super power consumption by individual businesses or entire industries that are able to flexibly utilize a seasonal superabundance of clean electricity.

• PF and CA could be the leading examples within an industry that leverages super power.

Explore the evidence...

• The disruption of food & agriculture will coincide with the proliferation of superabundant clean energy caused by the disruptions of SWB within the energy sector. Learn more about Super Abundant Clean Energy on p52-53 of our Rethinking Energy report.
  
• A key finding of our analysis is that when the SWB capacity mix is optimized for cost, this system will have three to five times more generating capacity than today’s grid. As a result, any 100% SWB system will produce an extremely large amount of surplus electricity at near-zero marginal cost. We call this SWB Superpower. Read more about SWB Superpower on p20-21 of our Rethinking Energy report.
• Regions that choose to maximize super power from a 100% SWB system will be able to accelerate this disruption by lowering the cost of energy inputs into these new industries. The disruption of conventional farming and food production will lead to large areas of land being freed up, which could be repurposed for co-utilization by SWB facilities. Learn more about the implications of clean energy super power on p54 of our Rethinking Energy Report.
• There will be an increase in the amount of electricity used in the new food system as the production facilities that underpin it rely on electricity to operate. This will, however, be offset by reductions in energy use elsewhere along the value chain. Read more about the implications of the modern food disruption on p49 of our Rethinking Food & Agriculture report.
• However, foods made using modern food production processes like PF are far more resource efficient than the industrial modes of production. For example, Precision Fermentation proteins are up to 100 times more energy efficient than the cow. Learn more about PF from RethinkX co-founder Tony Seba in this video.
• Modern foods will require five times less energy than their industrial alternatives. Modern foods will be about 10 times more efficient than a cow at converting feed into end products because a cow needs energy via feed to maintain and build its body over time. Less feed consumed means less land required to grow it, which means less water is used and less waste is produced. The savings are dramatic–up to 25 times less feedstock, 10 times less water, five times less energy and 100 times less land. Learn more about the production costs of PF on p20 of our report.
  

Witness the transformation

We are on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals 10,000 years ago.

Modern alternatives to our industrial livestock model will be up to 100 times more land efficient, 10-25 times more feedstock efficient, 20 times more time efficient and 10 times more water efficient. They will also produce less waste.

Moreover, the disruption to the food and agriculture sector will coincide with the disruption of the energy sector by SWB. The disruption of SWB will create a superabundance of clean energy that will help to power our future global food systems.

Learn more about the disruption of food and agriculture.

Learn more about the disruption of the energy sector.

Published on: 12/07/23