Gradually replacing 20 percent of global beef and lamb consumption with meat-textured proteins grown in stainless steel vats could cut agriculture-related CO2 emissions and deforestation in half by 2050, researchers reported Wednesday. Compared to a current-trends projection for population growth and food demand, swapping half of red meat consumption for so-called microbial proteins would see reductions in tree loss and CO2 pollution of more than 80 percent, they reported in the journal Nature. “With a relatively small change in the consumption of ruminant meat, greenhouse gas emissions from t…