Five steps to a sustainable holiday season
Can innovation make Christmas more eco-friendly whilst keeping it jolly?
![Becky Fields Becky Fields](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/becky-fields.jpg?w=100&h=100&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1559220423&s=f937cac0e960a90804359467e96d1d0d)
Corporate Communications Manager
(she/her)
The holiday season is traditionally a time for excess. Overdoing things. Eating too much. Drinking too much. And all with a tangible impact on our planet. But how could science and technology help turn our winter festivities into a more sustainable season?
![Cultured meat Cultured meat](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=b2a8f359b8f9f46e4d0398c8ff547284 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=32c4baddce40f366cc688aa9a5472be0 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=fb9cdf4ea9d74779669c5b068981bd17 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=97981b17713d7f55b8f2201507f9f996 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=c5288b56154187bd958d17f47f69b9af 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-05.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192071&s=2935142058fad14b946dcbf1a5a608de 960w)
1. Test tube turkey
Let’s talk turkey. Traditional meat production accounts for 57% of all greenhouse gas emissions from food production and requires significant resources. One solution is to grow animal-based proteins directly from cell cultures. An essential element of this process is the growth medium that provides the nutrients to support the formation and proliferation of cells. CPI has worked with biotech start-up 3D Bio-Tissues to develop a novel, cost-effective, and ethical growth medium for cultured meat substitutes.
Most growth media on the market use foetal bovine serum, but the 3D Bio-Tissues product is truly animal-free and cost-effective. Lab-grown meat could produce 96% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, use 98% less land, and 45% less energy compared with traditional farming practices. Could we soon be claiming that no animals were harmed in the making of our turkey dinners?
Another innovative approach is to turn greenhouse gas CO2 into food and animal feed. With our help, Deep Branch is commercialising its CO2-to-protein technology platform as part of the‘alternative protein revolution.’ Its single-cell protein Proton™ could be in production as soon as 2027 and eventually (re)use over 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
Carbon capture and eat anyone?
![Whisky Whisky](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=55d8072a2b6aa049652964855e01eb81 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=acdfc89ffd36701ab8e582b6e31b501b 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=1a5a9b772e14452c1a7158bdbc00417c 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=d17a988cb8fc079581e4c15873050545 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=d5e703f30c802f0c6091a2a51b538d2c 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-03.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192047&s=cdae5fbc499f8c59fc136ce55ed38726 960w)
2. Whisky – why not!
A wee dram of whisky on a cold winter’s night is a warming experience many of us enjoy. But the distilling process is energy intensive with surprisingly large greenhouse gas emissions. The industry has ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and is exploring the potential to use green hydrogen to fuel the distilling process.
As part of this transition, Supercritical is developing the world’s first high-pressure, high-efficiency electrolysers using renewable power to split water and produce hydrogen. This zero-emission hydrogen could completely replace fossil fuels in the distilling industry and, in the UK alone, reduce emissions by 530,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
Supercritical is working on an industrial hydrogen trial at Beam Suntory’s Glen Garioch distillery to produce around 57,000 bottles of hydrogen-distilled whisky. These will represent the first hydrogen-fired bottles of whisky ever created on an industrial scale. The quality of the spirit will be assessed as it matures, and the finished product will be ready to be responsibly and sustainably enjoyed sometime after 2025. We can all drink to that!
![Christmas tree Christmas tree](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=dcc571deb39e0b9c4a8b077d8e21c8c4 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=ea13fe920e5e04183c292165ebb16fdb 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=ff84273d5411d79e8728240f8f15a0da 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=ed1dbee4fae7dda402fbab9b539dc499 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=c93839b53a4c5df88e210b43638bae63 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-04.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192059&s=cf1eb11389ead91def20f637657fc200 960w)
3. Tree for all
Who doesn’t love a real tree in the house for Christmas? But how many of us think about the industrial processes that get that fir into our front room?
Every Christmas tree starts as a sapling, however, most saplings in commercial plantings are protected through their early development by plastic guards. And where there is plastic, there is the potential for pollution – many hundreds of tonnes a year. However, along with Chestnut Natural Capital, we’re developing a 3D-printed tree guard system that protects the plant for up to 5 years before biodegrading into the natural ecosystem. Gone but not forgotten.
![Plane Plane](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=610b1083de8952952d8d711571e0b1c3 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=0d49ef0e7a12804265f1e40e229bb06e 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=d9d89440eb848ff95c548e1062fe7e04 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=493eef4917f07ef27187e0883ba0678e 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=c1fe698de6f81c2138ca1060a354a344 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-01.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192026&s=c1f0e4426f2c7e4de501b43248321733 960w)
4. A net-zero jetaway
But maybe you want a different Christmas? A week or two of winter sun? A change of scene? On many levels, that is the worst possible thing you could do for the planet unless you are gifting it several acres of non-plastic polluting forest (see above) in return. However, luckily for you, we’re helping to support efforts to ensure mass aviation is more compatible with sustainability ambitions.
The FastAceJet project is exploring novel methods to produce sustainable aviation fuel by recycling CO2. This double whammy for sustainability could produce eco-friendly aviation fuel in the future and deliver benefits for other industry sectors.
![Christmas present Christmas present](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=3128f43dd80b9c9a853dca60da66cea4 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=f5640cadb8cc07b5c5dc299002709a4e 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=ef1291ffc5a4270217241ea8bc1971dd 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=9efdb7f622876c01af954036470f1962 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=34ba9a723475aa6a6690da156d5e7c43 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-06.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192083&s=ff7631d9d064234851e4e7c4d5d27e60 960w)
5. Blue packaging
Talking of Christmas presents, underneath the layers of wrapping paper are often more layers of plastic. Product packaging – the ultimate waste product – is often a multilayer materials problem – persistent and not biodegradable. Fortunately, Oceanium is working on premium compostable bio-packaging formed from sustainably farmed seaweed. This innovation is initially aimed at food packaging but could be developed across other packaging sectors.
Oceanium’s plastic-free, marine-safe packaging can be composted alongside food waste. A key element involves using farmed seaweed rather than wild harvest and ensure the final product is compatible with current packaging and recycling processes.
![Candy cane Candy cane](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=f6e3bdc21db6a31de0b5413b37e482fc 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=1120&h=630&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=63f229b45358b0b2a55836f4c42ddc50 1120w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=800&h=450&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=38b27c8e225c6034ce1ccd2cda8b1943 800w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=1600&h=900&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=087714386ca02c648c6fc0793f8bbadc 1600w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=480&h=270&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=d88c208febf84397eef83640f28daf52 480w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/smart-hoopoe/production/content/images/christmas-sustainable-02.png?w=960&h=540&q=45&fm=jpg&fit=crop&dm=1671192040&s=1c4c03481e9b5984e8d615af2fdb2b0a 960w)
Cheers to planet sensitive partying
The festive season is a time for all of us to get together with family and friends. It is also a good time to reflect on the past 12 months and consider the future. At CPI, we believe that a sustainable future relies on advances in science and technology. We hope you do too and are as excited as us to be contributing to that process for our planet and all the people living on this tiny blue dot. See you in 2023!
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