Good Morning
What we’re reading this week:
Crunchbase’s VCs quickly scale up climate software investments
The New Yorker’s The Renewable Energy Revolution Will Need Renewable Storage
(Also) The New Yorker’s Transforming Trees Into Skyscrapers
The Economist’s Climate Issue: “Best of all would be the introduction of an explicit price on carbon… To avoid allegations of big government and to prevent the tax from hurting the poor more than the rich, all revenues raised could be recycled as tax-refund cheques to households. That single bold act could do more to unleash America’s pent-up climate innovators than all of the blather spouted at UN conferences.”
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
The Boring Company, Elon Musk's project to build underground highways, raised a $675M Series C at a $5.7B valuation led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital (TV)
Beta Technologies, a 4.5-year-old, Burlington, Vt.-based maker of eVTOL aircraft and recharging pad systems, has raised $375 million in Series B funding co-led by TPG Rise Climate and Fidelity. (AC)
Bike taxi startup Rapido raised a $180M Series D led by Swiggy (TC)
Neptune Robotics, a four-year-old, Shenzhen, China-based maker of robots for cleaning the gunk off ship hulls (thereby significantly improving fuel efficiency), has raised $17.25 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital China (TC).
Berlin-based Vaayu, a carbon tracking platform for retailers, raised $11.5 million in a seed round led by Atomico (TC)
South Korean lab grown shrimp producer CellMEAT raised an $8.1M Series A led by NauIB, BNK Venture Capital, and others (TC)
Nowadays, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based startup making plant-based "meats," starting with nugget made of pea protein and wheat flower among other things, has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Stray Dog Capital. (TC)
Glacier, an AI-powered robotic waste technology startup, raised a $4.5M seed round led by NEA (PRN)
Japanese laser nuclear fusion startup EX Fusion raised a $1M+ pre-seed round led by ANRI (PRN)
Cruz Foam, a five-year-old, Santa Cruz, Ca.-based startup that makes compostable packing foam out of shrimp shells produced (and discarded) by the seafood industry, has raised a little less than $1 million in extended seed funding from celebrity investors Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher (TC)
Green Theory
Can the Meat Industry Uncluck Itself?
Whether you look in Houston or Honolulu, meat prices are ticking up across the US. Globally, we blow 42% of all habitable land on livestock, yielding 17% of our calories and 37% of our protein intake. Whether you hang the price hikes on the supply chain or corporate greed, people are paying up for their cuts of meat. In the face of rising demand (and marketing) for protein, some food innovators and industrialists are cooking up a different way to serve our affection for animal products: a system that uses less land, water, energy, medicine, and violence.
Slow Simmer
Beyond the threats to human health and animal well-being, plant-rich diets rank among the most impactful Drawdown solutions to climate catastrophe. At least 972 alternative protein companies believe they can help accelerate this move to plant-rich consumption, and their strategies vary from widely accepted plant-based milk to moonshot lab experiments. If you buy into their messaging, these products seem to present a silver bullet, solving issues that cut across dimensions of inequality and suffering and deliver a powerful, positive ripple effect. Who wouldn’t want to hop aboard and buy out every bottle of Chobani oat milk?
Given the role of industry interests, adoption of greener social choices is never as simple as explaining the virtues of a lifestyle change, such as curbing consumerism. In addition to livestock industry messaging and political influence, a food’s centrality to the human experience further complicates a protein transition. Deeply embedded in culture, history, daily habits, celebrations, and more–food plays a uniquely emotional role in our day. You may tear up thinking of a special meal, or smile in memory of a childhood dish. In order to supply animal alternatives appealing enough (in taste, nutrition, and cost) for most shoppers, recipes and processes have a long way to go. As with many technologies, much of the positioning around alternative protein applies a broad brush to a complex system, and can obscure the power of entrenched interests. Still, Field Roast, for one, hasn’t hiked up the plant-based sausage price. If any of today’s meat alternatives help you feel healthier, more humane, or satisfied, they probably beat out their animal counterparts from a climate justice lens, too.
Taking a Bite
Perhaps you’re skeptical of the choices available in your local grocery store right now, but several plant-based alternatives stand out as excellent substitutes for meat cravings, as options continue to expand. Without time to evaluate the growing number of products, nor desire to risk going for the one alternative protein option in a smaller store, the average shopper can’t be expected to jump at these novel, new meats. To save the trouble, here are two top-tier selections with short recipstructions to get you started. First, pick up some Field Roast sausages (available in several flavors–recommend starting with Italian), slice into ½” discs, and sautee on medium-high in heated oil, ~3 minutes per side. Filled with flavor and protein, this sausage pairs well with chilis, sauces, pastas, and beyond. Next, Impossible Foods’ frozen nuggets seem nearly identical to typical freezer chicken nuggets. Heat them in the oven and serve with your favorite dips or spreads, while you rest assured you’re enjoying a nugget free of ground-up bone or meat paste. Fresh alternatives to meat and other animal products crop up all the time. Even if nuggets or sausages aren’t central to your diet today, you may find sampling some non-animal substitute foods worthwhile.
Beyond Impossible: Big Meat’s End Game or Extinction?
The niche nature of these two alternative meats points to some of the underlying challenges facing this path to sustainability. Both sausages and chicken nuggets represent highly processed products. Though removing the animal component saves resources, limits medical risks, and reduces sentient suffering, these plant-based proteins still require large industrial facilities. With industry consolidation already exerting power over key US food supplies, and increasing rates of rapacious monocropping, caution around the role of big meat firms in alternative proteins is warranted. These companies see the writing on the wall: highly-processed meat products will be easier to replace, and some already are. If less expensive production is possible, they want to run it. As discussed last week, other big industries such as pharmaceuticals may swoop in, depending on the alternative protein breakthrough. Does it count as a just food transition if these corporations retain or expand their control over food?
Ultimately, imagination and perspective shapes the virtues of alternative proteins. Authors of this above-linked report draw attention to the limits of bold claims in the sustainable food space. For instance, they ask, if land is spared of livestock agriculture, can one be sure it will be returned to the wild? Who gets to decide? Essentially, they question whether replacing animals with plants will solve all of the (water, land, health, biosphere, etc.) goals it sets out for. Alternative proteins won’t fix each issue entirely, but tackling any of them would be worthwhile alone. The Good Food Institute’s goal of “building a world where alternative proteins are the default choice” may not deliver climate justice for all, but must be a step in the direction away from meat paste.
The Closer
Wish my face could do this
Any time I hear boring company I think of this video now:
https://twitter.com/pixelnull/status/1479086874140594176?s=20&t=kBGB73KhpandVhlcYffmhw