Insect biorefinery in Europe: ‘DESigning the Insect bioRefinery to contribute to a more sustainABLE agro-food industry’

Abstract

This paper offers a brief overview of the potential technical barriers that need to be overcome in order to develop a new insect industry based on the rearing of insects on waste products, their transformation and the formulation of animal meals. This work will also include conduct of a detailed life cycle assessment of the system. In-depth studies and analyses will be performed on every component and then consolidated globally at the scale of the industry. Although insects appear to constitute a pertinent source of food for humans, these studies will focus on the potential incorporation of insect proteins in animal feeds, mainly for fish and poultry, as a substitute for fish and soybean-based meals.