I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 752 - 650: Single-Cell Protein

"Currently, the operations of the Aid to Europe Fleet are going well, and the speed of production and construction has also met the targets set by the planned schedule. However, the lack of production raw materials is still affecting their production efficiency." In the communication room of the Land Ship carrier, Chen Xin was in contact with his home country: "I have already talked with the relevant responsible parties of the fleet. The only thing provided to us from Germany is the mine that currently serves as the fleet’s base. Although further extraction capacity could be tapped by engaging in destructive mining without considering sustainable extraction, the increase in production capacity is still limited.

Moreover, according to production needs, the mining area provided by Germany only yields a limited amount of certain raw materials. Other raw materials still depend on their provision, which is a significant constraint on production.

Therefore, I suggest it is best to also utilize the mining areas provided by France and England to establish a complete resource output system in Europe, ensuring the acquisition of production raw materials so as not to be controlled by others."

The high-ranking officials in conversation with Chen Xin listened carefully to his report, had a low-voiced discussion, and then asked: "But the Aid to Europe Fleet currently lacks manpower and resources, so isn’t it powerless to open up new mining areas? Or do you, Academician Chen, have some new ideas?"

"Yes, from the current situation, we lack necessary manpower as well as sufficient logistical resources and indeed have no capacity to open more mining areas to obtain raw materials." Chen Xin nodded and did not deny this: "So my idea is to improve our logistics support for the Aid to Europe Fleet to ensure that material production here can meet the fleet’s consumption. Once that is achieved, we can expand the fleet’s manpower and exploit resources."

At this point, Chen Xin paused, smiled a bit self-deprecatingly, and continued: "Of course, I assume that the fleet’s leadership and others have already thought of this plan. I also see that fleet members are setting up greenhouses and planting crops that can mature quickly, but that is still too slow to show results.

As for transporting materials from the homeland to Europe, although there is a freight Land Ship now that can ensure the transportation of materials, domestic resources are probably not sufficient, right?"

Regarding this question, a leader responsible for logistics supply nodded affirmatively: "Even though the intensity of front-line battles has recently decreased and the defense against extraterrestrial organisms is progressing smoothly, material consumption is still high. Most of the domestic materials are supplied to the front-line combat units, and we also have to ensure the livelihood of the people.

The materials that we can provide, aside from supporting the ’procurement plan’, can only ensure the basic consumption of the fleet. Although it’s not that we don’t have any spare capacity, we still have to consider potential emergencies and keep reserves."

The so-called "procurement plan" refers to what Li Yulong and his team are currently doing; they are taking the emergency food and living supplies transported from the homeland and collecting various usable technologies and materials across European countries, achieving some notable results.

Also, because of this, a significant part of the cargo allocation from the freight Land Ship is assigned to them rather than for expanding the fleet’s manpower.

On this matter, Chen Xin had no objections. The basic material supply for the fleet is still guaranteed; it’s just that there are no surplus materials to expand the manpower. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

As for how to allocate materials and what is more critical for the country, naturally, those higher up will consider this. It does not require his intervention.

"So, Academician Chen, do you have any other solutions?" The high-ranking leaders looked at Chen Xin with great interest. Since he knew about these problems and still brought up the issue, evidently, he must have new ideas.

Chen Xin nodded positively and asked the leaders: "Have any of you heard of single-cell protein?"

"Single-cell protein? You mean protein meat?" One of the high-ranking leaders seemed to have heard of something similar and slightly mentioned: "Before the disaster, there were also proposals to build factories for this kind of artificial protein meat, to manufacture synthetic foods using artificial proteins to meet food consumption. But back then, the country did not adopt this plan."

"It’s a similar concept; single-cell protein, also known as microbial protein, is not a pure protein but a cytoplasmic mass composed of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and nitrogenous compounds that are not proteins, vitamins, and inorganic compounds." Chen Xin introduced to the high-ranking leaders. However, to make it easier for them to understand, Chen Xin did not use too many professional terms: "Simply put, it is a cytoplasm rich in protein and fat, and its cultivation speed is remarkably rapid. Its production efficiency is thousands of times higher than that of plants and animals. In fact, this was already a mature technology before the disaster, and aside from protein meat, it is often used as a food additive to supplement proteins or vitamins and minerals, etc.

Although this stuff might not taste great, it can fill stomachs, and it is non-pathogenic to humans, nutritionally rich, and is an excellent synthetic food.

Furthermore, cultivating it is straightforward, as wastewater and waste from agricultural and industrial processes or even petroleum and natural gas products can be used as raw materials for production. Cultivation and production are quite simple, and it can be industrially mass-produced."

"That’s right, I remember, there was such a scheme proposed at the time—to build protein factories in various cities to produce this single-cell protein to create synthetic food and meet food consumption; we had considered this plan." At this point, another leader also recalled this matter and questioned the other leaders nearby: "I remember everyone thought the feasibility of this plan was pretty good; why was it rejected later?"

"Mainly due to raw material issues. At that time, according to our estimates, agricultural and industrial production would face devastating impacts, making raw materials for protein production difficult to obtain. So, after comprehensive evaluation, it was thought that large-scale rollout couldn’t provide enough raw materials, so it was rejected." A leader nearby, who seemed to have a good memory, quickly recalled this matter.

Although they initially rejected this plan, times have changed. With Chen Xin bringing this plan up again, after a discussion, they all felt it was an excellent plan.

But the high-ranking leaders were still quite concerned and asked: "Though this technology can indeed solve the food problem, where will you get the raw materials to produce these single-cell proteins? Transporting from the homeland would be less efficient than directly transporting food; are there channels to acquire them in Europe?"

"Rest assured about this, I’ve given it careful thought, and there won’t be a problem." Chen Xin nodded confidently and sent his prepared report to the high-ranking leaders via network transmission.