DARPA is working on a revolutionary technology that turns air into food

DARPA wants to create a microbial food production system capable of producing food using air, electricity and water.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to improve the way food is provided for military consumption and humanitarian relief efforts. To do this, it is hosting Proponents’ Day on December 15, 2021 to help find new designs and test systems capable of producing foods of bacterial origin.

DARPA wants to make food from scratch

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Nominee Day will allow people to contribute to DARPA’s Cornucopia Food Production Program. Program objectives include improving force readiness and operational flexibility. It also wants to extend its ability to withstand tasks and defend against supply chain disruptions. Finally, the program aims to support disaster relief and mitigate vulnerabilities in the face of an attack or disaster.

The basic idea of ​​a food production program is to save space on the transportation of goods. These transfers generally waste a lot of space to move food and water. Operations will still need electricity. However, DARPA makes it possible to produce water from thin air. It is planned to generate water using an atmospheric water extraction program. DARPA established the program in 2019.

If successful, the programs would allow DARPA to begin creating food products without having to move thousands of pounds of items elsewhere. It’s an interesting idea and seems to have come out of a science fiction novel. But it can save a lot of resource traffic in the future.

Can we achieve microbial food production?

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Scientists believe that we can create a food production system based solely on water, air and electricity. In fact, the US government also researched the idea using a program called ARPA-E. Like DARPA, the program is dedicated to developing new ways of storing, producing, and using energy.

We may see some results from these programs over the next several years. Part of the reason is the evolution of technology. Another reason we were able to see results so early is the amount of workforce invested in the programs. Of course, the microbial food they make will not be what you might expect. For example, we’re not talking about fancy 3D-printed steaks or anything like that. Rather than attempting to grow cells or organisms of higher animal or plant origin, DARPA’s work will focus primarily on bacteria, archaea, fungi, or microalgae.