Tag: Sustainable Solutions

Palm Fat replacement product for food industry gets funding boost

A team of food researchers who developed an innovative new replacement for palm fat in the bakery industry has received a welcome funding boost from the Scottish Government.  

The move will see the team progress commercial opportunities with new industry partners to provide healthy sustainable solutions for the food industry, and a reduced reliance on the use of palm fat in the bakery industry.   

The researchers at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh developed Palm-Alt, a new ingredient which replaces palm shortening, margarine and butter in a variety of bakery applications. Palm-Alt is considerably lower in saturated fat and carbon emissions when compared with palm, butter or margarine.

Palm shortening is widely used in a vast amount of baked goods such as biscuits, cakes and pastries, but palm cultivation is linked with tropical rainforest destruction. 

The University’s new replacement ingredient could offer significant solutions for the food industry allowing manufacturers to satisfy increasing consumer demand for tasty, lower fat, healthier food products, whilst reducing destruction of the world’s rainforests.    

Due to its composition, high yield and low production costs, the global food industry has become dependent on palm shortening, resulting in its over-cultivation. Its high saturated fat content, which allows it to remain solid at room temperature, has proven crucial to the industrial bakery sector.   

The new ingredient, which is a clean label blend of rapeseed oil, fibres and proteins, can be produced locally and at a global scale. During its initial trial period, the University’s research team demonstrated that when Palm-Alt was used as a replacement in baked goods, products such as cakes, biscuits and bread maintained their texture, flavour and colour.

When news about its initial success and its health and sustainable credentials went viral in 2023, there was a huge surge of interest from food manufacturers across the globe, all keen to know more about this exciting new replacement product and its potential to positively impact the food industry.   

More recently, the QMU team have moved testing out of the University’s labs, with successful trialling of Palm-Alt in industrial manufacturing settings, and with excellent results when tested as an ingredient in partners’ own products. The research team are currently in commercialisation and licensing discussions of PalmAlt with a number of interested UK food manufacturers.   

A new funding boost of £239k from the Scottish Government is now allowing the team to progress the development of an extended range of Palm-Alt to enable further applications. This work is set to include new collaborations with food industry partners ranging from ingredient producers to finished food product manufacturers from across the food industry. 

The innovative new palm substitute has been developed by Dr Julien Lonchamp, Reader in Food Science, and Catriona Liddle, Head of the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation at QMU.  

Catriona explained: “We set out to develop a new ingredient that would not only be better for the environment but also healthier than palm fat and current alternatives.

“Our trials at the University and now in industry settings have demonstrated that Palm-Alt works successfully as a replacement for palm-based shortening in baked goods.

“With up to 25% less fat and 89% less saturated fat, it is healthier, and as it can be produced locally, it could significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the impact of food miles and deforestation of global rainforests associated with palm production.”  

Catriona continued: “After seven years of research and development it is exciting to see the level of interest and enthusiasm from the food industry and our current partners. We are delighted that the Scottish Government is recognising the commercial potential of Palm-Alt as an effective replacement ingredient which offers significant health and sustainability benefits.”  

Dr Julien Lonchamp confirmed: “Today, the focus on nutrition and on identifying and developing more sustainable food and food sources has never been higher.

“This Proof of Concept funding from the Scottish Government will allow us to continue our work in commercialising Palm-Alt, seeking out new applications and solutions for the food industry in, for example, the use of Palm-Alt in pastry and confectionery products.

“It will help bridge the gap between groundbreaking research and commercial applications, which is essential in helping bring Palm-Alt to the global marketplace.”  

The research team are currently being supported by Edinburgh Innovations, the commercialisation service at the University of Edinburgh, who are managing the patent and commercial development of Palm-Alt, including engaging in license discussions with a number of interested UK food manufacturers.   

Queen Margaret University has been carrying out commercial trials at Opportunity North East (ONE) SeedPod, Scotland’s dedicated food and drink innovation hub in Aberdeen.

Gary McDonald, Senior Market Development Manager at ONE, said: “Delighted to see this project come to fruition at ONE SeedPod.

“The team at the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation have been such a joy to work with on what is such an innovative project for the industry.”   

Pupils take part in pioneering sustainability skills challenge

Forty-two pupils from Edinburgh and the Lothians put their sustainability skills to the test at Musselburgh Grammar as they took part in a pioneering programme aimed at developing the employability skills of the future.

Teams from Musselburgh Grammar, Preston Lodge High School, Lasswade High School, Craigmount, Balerno and Galashiels Academy took part in the Powering Futures Schools Challenge presentations, where they were tasked with finding innovative sustainable solutions to five real-world challenges facing businesses today.

The challenge-setters were Scottish Water, EV charging experts Urban Fox, BritishGas, Newsquest and The Scottish Government, with the challenge topics spanning reducing water consumption, netzero targets for sports clubs and schools, improving transport connectivity and creating trusted media on climate change.

The pupils were tasked with researching the challenges and collaborating to come up with creative solutions.

Drawing on guidance from industry mentors, they presented their creative solutions to a panel of judges including Paul McLennan MSP and Colin Beattie MSP, plus representatives from East Lothian Council, DYW Borders, FutureX, University of Edinburgh, Energy Training Academy, Musselburgh Windsor FC, Lantra, Energy3 and Social Bite at a showcase event for Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders regions held at Musselburgh Grammar this week – earning a SCQF Level 6 qualification at the end of the process. 

Powering Futures was set up in 2020 to empower the young and future workforce with the skills, knowledge and abilities to help the transition to net zero.

The SCQF level 6 accredited Powering Futures Schools Challenge has seen 643 pupils from 43 schools across Scotland participate in 2023-2024 – with Powering Futures aiming to engage a million young people in the programme by 2030. 

MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands Gordon MacDonald said: “The Powering Futures Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for young people to shape and develop essential skills for their futures.

“It is an innovative collaboration between businesses and schools which enables participants to use their creativity, problem solving and teamwork to learn about sustainability and how this can be applied through specific projects.

“S5 and S6 Pupils from Balerno High School have been participating in this year’s programme taking on real-world sustainability challenges set by the sponsor, researching and collaborating on a solution, which ends with them presenting it to a panel of industry judges. 

“I want to wish them the best of luck and know all their hard work and commitment to the project will provide them with much valued skills as they embark on the world of work or further education.”

Jennifer Tempany, Co-Founder of Powering Futures, said: “We were delighted to have four teams from Craigmount and Balerno High School take part in the Challenge Programme.

“We are always blown away by the innovation and creativity shown by pupils as they tackle some relevant  challenges set by industry.

“By empowering young people through our pioneering Powering Futures Challenge Programme, we can help them develop the critical skills that employers are looking for in their future workforce as well as establishing those essential links between the businesses of today and the workers of tomorrow who will power Scotland’s net-zero future.” 

Earth Overshoot Day creeps back to July 29

The modest gains from the pandemic-induced resource-use reductions were short-lived, highlighting the urgency of driving an economic recovery where all can thrive within the means of the Earth

Earth Overshoot Day 2021 lands on July 29, Councillor Susan Aitken, the Leader of Glasgow City Council, announced today on behalf of Global Footprint Network and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

“With almost half a year remaining, we will already have used up our quota of the Earth’s biological resources for 2021 by July 29th. If we need reminding that we’re in the grip of a climate and ecological emergency, Earth Overshoot Day is it,” she said.

The date is almost as early as 2019, after being momentarily pushed back in 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdowns. Notable drivers are the 6.6% carbon Footprint increase over last year, as well as the 0.5% decrease in global forest biocapacity due in large part to the spike in Amazon deforestation—in Brazil alone, 1.1 million hectares were lost in 2020 and estimates for 2021 indicate up to 43% year-over-year increase in deforestation.

“As the UN Decade of Ecosystems Restoration is launched on World Environment Day, June 5, this data makes abundantly clear that recovery plans in the post-COVID 19 era can only be successful in the long-term if they embrace regeneration and ecological resource-efficiency,” said Global Footprint Network CEO Laurel Hanscom.

Each year, Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year. Humanity currently uses 74% more than what the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate – or “1.7 Earths.”

From Earth Overshoot Day until the end of the year, humanity operates on ecological deficit spending. This spending is currently some of the largest since the world entered into ecological overshoot in the early 1970s, according to the National Footprint & Biocapacity Accounts (NFA) based on UN datasets.

In 2021 the carbon Footprint of transportation remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. CO2 emissions from domestic air travel and road transport are set to remain 5% below 2019 levels, while international aviation is expected to register 33% below, according the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global energy-related CO2 emissions, on the other hand, are projected to rebound and grow by 4.8% from last year as the economic recovery ignites demand for fossil fuels. In particular, global coal use is anticipated to jump in 2021 and is estimated to contribute 40% of the total carbon Footprint this year.

Business-as-usual must be left behind

Last year, as the pandemic hit around the world, governments demonstrated they can act swiftly, both in terms of regulations and spending, when they put human lives above all else. The perfect storm that is brewing, as climate change impacts and biological resource security converge, requires the same level—or higher—of alertness and swift action from decision makers.

“In November, as a weary world turns its attention to Scotland and COP26, together we can choose one-planet prosperity over one-planet misery. We can and must build from the pandemic–our global ability to plan, to protect and move at pace. Scottish innovation helped lead the Industrial Revolution; in 2021, the Glasgow summit and the future we choose as each community, city, company or country, offers real hope for a new net-zero revolution,” said SEPA CEO Terry A’Hearn.

Through their infrastructure and regulatory powers, cities have significant opportunities to shape their resource efficiency and, with it, their future. Given their risk exposure, aligning their development plans with what resiliency requires in a world shaped by climate change and biological resource constraints, has become cities’ utmost priority regardless of international agreements.

“Cities are ideal living laboratories for social and environmental innovation, offering significant learning to create real-world solutions and transformation. And universities have an obligation to act in partnership with their host cities to accelerate progress toward a just and sustainable future,” said Professor Jaime Toney, director of the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Sustainable Solutions.

“We are working with a people- and place-based approach to deliver positive change for a climate-resilient city whose legacy lasts beyond COP26.”

“Let Earth Overshoot Day be our call to arms,” urged Councillor Susan Aitken, the Leader of Glasgow City Council. “In November the eyes of the world will be on Glasgow, host of COP26, the climate summit that needs to make the decisions that will deliver our planet on a safer and more sustainable future.

“We’ve got the opportunity here in Glasgow to show the world what we’re doing, coalescing together as a city to show real change, to respond to the climate and ecological emergency. Let’s put our planet first and let’s #MoveTheDate together.”