COVID-19 RAPID RESPONSE: CREATING ROBUST INSECT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS BY INCREASING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the fragility of our current commercial food andagricultural supply chains as many faced food shortages and food insecurities during this globalpandemic [1]. Now is the opportune time to reevaluate how food is produced and distributed inthe United States and innovate in food production systems to better mitigate the effects of thiscrisis while also addressing multiple ongoing crises (i.e. food shortages climate change feedinggrowing populations energy shortages). Insect farming could be the sustainable method forstrengthening food security and stimulating the economy in this country. Insects are an excellentsource of protein fat and essential nutrients for livestock pets and animals (wild and incaptivity) and their mass production uses minimal land and water resources [2]. However livemealworms and other insects are expensive to produce [3] partially due to high electricaloperational costs to maintain optimal growth temperatures. To address this issue From The LandLLC is proposing an innovation to increase energy efficiency in insect production systems thatwill increase the economical value and could mitigate food shortages from current and ongoingcrisis (e.g. COVID-19 climate change energy shortages and feeding growing populations).This USDA NIFA SBIR Phase I project proposes to build the first zero net energy insectproduction facility specifically for live mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) using sustainablearchitectural strategies and renewable energies. The proposed facility will utilize naturallysourced building material (adobe/cob) passive and active solar collection practices geothermalventilation designs a smart self-regulating temperature controlled system to regulate optimalmealworm growth conditions (26-28°C) and photovoltaic technology to operate mechanical andautomated systems. The two technical objectives for this project are to (1) build test andcalibrate this system design and to (2) preform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of mealwormproduction within the system border to quantify energy efficiency and evaluate zero net energyfeasibility within the company border. If successful these methods could increase energyefficiency in traditional mass insect production systems by at least a 50%. Also with automationa $31680 annual cost savings is estimated for a facility of the proposed size [24]. Thisinnovation has been designed to be cost effective easy to acquire and easy to incorporate intoany small to mid-size farm as a profitable new market. Implementation of these methods has thepotential to increase sustainable localized insect protein production systems in both rural andurban areas to increase food security for both human and animal food security and economicgrowth. Using these methods for building temperature-controlled facilities has great potential ofdecreasing the environmental impacts while reducing operational costs of multiple agriculturalindustries including livestock and animal feed industries.