It is projected that cellular agriculture will be a much more sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture, and in particular intensive industrialised practices. There are predictions it will vastly reduce land use (99%), water use (82-96%), GHG emissions (78-96%) and potentially even energy use (7-45%)(Source).
Due to the stage the industry is at, large scale life cycle analyses (LCAs) conducted on actual practices have not yet been performed. In saying this, a number of predictive LCAs have been conducted since 2011.
This 2019 report concluded that cultivated meat may not produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than beef, unless it uses a non-carbon energy source. However in early 2023, this report concluded that even with conventional energy, cultivated meat is still likely to outperform current beef production in terms of GHG emissions.
Furthermore, the report mentions that cultivated meat will outperform current chicken and pork production if renewable energy is used. In terms of land use, water use and pollution, the report concluded it is also very likely to vastly outperform all conventional meat production.
A 2021 report concluded that precision fermented milk outperforms bovine dairy milk in water use, non-renewable energy input and greenhouse gas production.
Land use is also a key factor. By vastly reducing the land used for animal agriculture, land can then be repurposed to: regenerate habitats and biodiversity; reduce global warming through carbon sequestration and the cooling effects of revegetation; restore soils to mitigate water and nutrient loss, and reintroduce many other environmental and societal benefits.