Environmental performance of insect protein: a case of LCA results for fish feed produced in Norway

Abstract

In this article, life cycle assessments for six insect protein production cases are examined, and their life cycle inventories are systematically combined to create consistent data and results for the environmental performance of insect protein. The LCAs are on mealworms farmed in the Netherlands or France, fed on cereals or vegetable waste food and brewery side stream (four cases); and black soldier fly larvae farmed in Germany, fed on brewery side stream or brewery side stream with vegetable waste (two cases). The focus is on those insect proteins which can be utilised as fish feed with use in Norway as an example. Special attention is paid to obtain consistent system boundaries, method choices, background data, and indicators. The results show that the insect diet is crucial for all the analysed environmental indicators for insects fed a diet of high economic value vegetables. Emissions from the utilisation of insect manure for biogas, fertilisers or similar, and direct insect greenhouse gas emissions, seem to have little importance. The article further shows results compared with the greenhouse gas emissions for the most important salmon protein feed ingredients in Norway. Insect protein based on vegetables with low economic value has the potential to compete in environmental performance with existing protein sources for fish feed and can also cover 10 to 15% of the volumes of crude protein currently imported to the EU.