By 2050, our global population might have been beyond nine billion, bringing with it an expected 70% increase in global demand for meat and fish. As a result, the growing demand for soya(大豆)-based farm feed is driving massive destruction of forests at an alarming rate, and sea animal populations have halved in the last four decades due to widespread overfishing.
With 10 million pounds funding, part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, a start-up company Entocycle is leading a cooperation that will build the UK’s first industrial-scale insect farm. Black soldier flies(黑水虻)are used to convert food waste from farms and factories into a sustainable, organic insect-based protein feed, as an alternative to soya, for farmed animals, namely pigs, chicken and fish. In short the company is using food waste to create insect protein to feed the animals that we eat, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions (排放) and deforestation.
Following its formation in 2017, Entocycle spent time developing its technology as part of the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK), which is managed and partly funded by STF
C. Entocycle acquired the expert knowledge to develop a network of cutting edge sensors, originally designed for use in space, to monitor and optimize (优化) the black soldier flies’ lifecycle. They combined this with big data analysis to develop their proprietary technology to mass-rear flies, scalable for industrial use, STFC’s Dr Sue O’Hare, Operations Manager at the ESA BIC UK, said, “Entocycle is a first-class example of how space technology can be applied to address one of the most important global challenges we currently face — how to feed the world without harming our planet. ”
It is fantastic to know that the ESA BIC UK, part of the world’s largest business incubation program for space tech start-ups, was able to provide the right environment and support to play a part in the early development of this world-changing technology. This is a significant milestone for Entocycle as it seeks to make a real and positive impact on making our food supply chains more environmentally sustainable.
【小题1】How does the author develop his opinion in paragraph 1?| A．By listing questions. | B．By presenting facts. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By stating arguments. |
| A．Entocycle is the UK’s first industrial-scale farm. |
| B．Entocycle is replacing soya with black soldier flies. |
| C．Entocycle is converting farms and factories into more sustainable ones. |
| D．Entocycle is exploring a new way to transform food waste into farm feed. |
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Ambiguous. |
| A．Food Waste Is a Global Challenge |
| B．Increasing Population Threats Our Planet |
| C．Entocycle Puts Space Technology into Use |
| D．Using Insects to Turn Food Waste into Animal Feed |
