Changing climate
changing population
changing diets
The negative impacts of climate change are increasing, in number and frequency. We need to act now, in as many ways as possible, to reduce as many greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as possible, to help stop continued climate change. One way to do this, is to reduce our dependency on traditional animal agriculture, which is a major contributor to climate change due to its high levels of methane production.
THE opportunity:
the complex reality of climate change
Cows are cute but problematic
A single cow requires large amounts of land, water and food, and the cows themselves produce large amounts methane, which after CO2, is the largest contributing factor to climate change.
Almost 50% of dairy production emissions are in the form of methane. This is quite significant because methane has about a 25% stronger global warming potential than CO2. CO2 can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, whereas methane only stays for about 12 years, but the damage methane can cause in that short time is huge. The good news is, methane emissions in the environment can also easily be significantly reduced through reducing our dependency on traditional agriculture.
Learn more about some potential issues with cow milk consumption here in our Milk Basics guide.
Impact of DIET changes in Developing Countries
Diet changes in developing countries also contribute in a new way to climate change, but negatively.
While developed countries are consuming less meat to try to combat climate change, people in developing countries are becoming richer and can now afford to add more expensive animal products to their diets, and that brings a new source of agriculturally based GHG emissions into the atmosphere.
In it together
We all have a responsibility to act now to reduce GHG emissions in any way that we can.
So, we are moo-ving our resources behind finding solutions for these problems, find out more about Our Research.
Traditional animal agriculture produces large amounts of Ghg
Greenhouse gases emissions are a main driver of global warming and climate change and therefore their reduction is one of the key priorities of the world, spelled-out in the global Goals of Sustainable Development by the United Nations and adopted by all 195 member states in 2015.
Traditional animal agriculture and food production methods create significant GHG emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), which contribute heavily to climate change. Some of the biggest issues with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world can be traced back, alas, to cows.
two billion additional Mouths to feed by 2050
Our global population continues to grow exponentially.
In 1950, the population was 2.6 billion people. Today, there are 7.7 billion. By 2050, less than 30 years from now, it is estimated there will be around 9.7 billion, which is a staggering 2 billion more people than today.
The amount of agriculturally derived food needed to feed two billion more people is incomprehensible, and moreso, unachievable, because there is simply not enough space on the planet. Currently, more than half of the worlds inhabitable land is being used for agriculture, yet only producing less than 40% of the worlds protein needs. This means, even now, current agricultural practices cannot meet the demand of todays population. This gap will continue to widen as the population continues to grow.
QL Loves Cows!
After all, we are based in Switzerland, and cows are an integral part of the Swiss identity, culture, and economy. We love cows, we love the earth, we love our communities. We want to do what we can to protect all of these and all of us.
So, lets skip the cow in the dairy protein development process, and significantly reduce GHG emissions and land and water usage.
Find out more about Our Solution here.
PLant-Based Lifestyle choices in Developed countries
Concerns about climate change and increased efforts to reduce additional negative impact on our environment are among some of reasons that more and more people chose to consume less animal meat and dairy products or follow a completely vegan lifestyle without consuming any animal products, including dairy. These choices have a positive impact on reducing GHG emissions.
However, sometimes people who follow plant-based diets may require additional protein supplementation due to their reduced levels or complete lack of animal protein consumption. Our dairy proteins provide equivalent nutrition to traditional animal dairy proteins without the negative climate implications.
our research
We are a million times faster in our research process, which helps us create our dairy protein-producing microorganism. Read more about how we do it here.
Learn More About What We are Doing and Why