Innovafeed, Protix study finds insect protein gains at scale

EUROPE – A new assessment by insect-protein producers Innovafeed and Protix argues that the environmental performance of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) protein can improve significantly as production scales, challenging assessments based primarily on early-stage or pilot operations.

The commentary, When Scale Lowers Carbon: A Perspective on Industrial-Scale Insect Protein, examines how production scale, industrial integration, feedstock sourcing, and the functional benefits of insect ingredients in animal nutrition can influence their overall sustainability.

The authors argue that conventional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) alone may not capture the full impact of ingredient choices within a changing food and feed system.

Published assessments of BSF production have reported global warming impacts ranging from about 0.5 to 77 kg CO₂ equivalent per kilogram of protein, depending on factors including feedstock, processing energy and allocation methodology.

The study argues that some of this variation reflects the scale at which insect production is assessed. 

At laboratory and pilot scale, energy use, environmental control, feedstock logistics and production volumes are not optimised, increasing emissions calculated per kilogram of protein.

The authors point to commercial-scale operations as evidence that the carbon footprint can fall as production increases.

Innovafeed’s protein carbon intensity fell fivefold between 2022 and 2025 to 1.2 kg CO₂ per kilogram of protein, according to the company’s data cited in the assessment. 

Innovafeed is targeting about 0.6 kg CO₂ equivalent per kilogram by 2030 through further process and scale optimisation.

The assessment also highlights industrial integration as a factor in reducing emissions. 

Innovafeed co-locates facilities with industrial partners to recover waste heat and uses wet organic by-products from an adjacent starch plant as feedstock for insect production.

The authors say this industrial symbiosis reduced the carbon footprint of the resulting insect meal by 80% compared with a non-symbiotic industrial producer, citing previous research.

Comparing insect protein with conventional ingredients

The study also compares insect ingredients with conventional protein sources including fishmeal and soy protein concentrate. 

Using Global Feed LCA Institute data, it notes that carbon footprints vary substantially according to species, origin, and processing, with many conventional protein sources recording higher values than industrial-scale insect meal.

The authors argue that these comparisons should also consider constraints on conventional protein production.

Soy production requires land, while marine ingredients depend on finite wild fish stocks and are exposed to climate variability.

The assessment further considers potential benefits of insect-derived ingredients within animal production. 

BSF contains bioactive compounds including antimicrobial peptides, lauric acid, chitin and nucleotides, which the authors say can support gut health and immunity.

In aquaculture and other monogastric production systems, these functional properties could contribute to outcomes such as survival and feed efficiency, potentially reducing the inputs required per kilogram of animal produced.

The authors conclude that insect ingredients should be assessed using a more dynamic framework that combines LCA with production scale, system-level consequences, and functional benefits in animal nutrition.

They argue that industrial-scale insect protein can provide an additional source of protein while using organic by-products as feedstocks and reducing pressure on land and marine resources.

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