Solein - The Food Out of Thin Air Made From Electricity, Water, Air and Microbes

Solar Food Processing Network created a way to produce innovative and revolutionary natural protein source food called Solein - food out of thin air, made from electricity, water and air.

Solar Food is a project that aims to improve food security and quality, reduce energy dependancy by using renewable energy, develop and producing solar food products, and implement solar food technologies, create income opportunities for private sector and SMEs, and develop a sustainable and fair food industry.

Solein as is an innovative new food invented by Finnish start-up Solar Food is described to be the world's most environment-friendly friendly.

It is made up by combining electricity to water in order to release bubbled carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

Microbes had also played a big part with the creation of solein as they act as foods to CO2 and H and dry solein to make it powdery.

Solein fermentation process can be seen similar to that of beer brewing, however, it requires a sensitive and special reactor that resembles a kerosene lamp.

Dried Solein has 50% content of protein that tastes and looks like wheat flour, where ut can be used in any types of diets.

“It is a completely new kind of food, a new kind of protein, different to all the food on the market today in how it is produced as it does not need agriculture or aquaculture,” Dr Pasi Vainikka said.

“It offers a unified solution that caters to every imaginable meal or diet of today, while also creating opportunities for entirely new foods of tomorrow.” He added.

Solein is also 10 times more energy-efficient per hectare than photosynthesis, and 10 to 100 times more environment-friendly in water use than animal or plant-based food production.


“One of the reasons why meat has become so important to our diets is that it is an excellent source of high quality protein. Solein – the protein produced by Solar Foods – also contains all the essential amino acids, but because it is produced using carbon dioxide and electricity it does not require large amounts of land to produce,” the Solar Food website explained.

“Another unique characteristic of Solein is that it is able to take carbon directly from carbon dioxide without needing a source of sugar. Other processes that utilize microbes for protein production, for example egg albumen or milk protein, require agricultural land for producing the carbon source.”

At the end of the year 2021, the Helsinki-based was planning to open their first ever solein factory and scale up the production by 2 billion meals per year in 2022.

Photo credit: Solar Food Network