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Product	CO2e / kg	Studies

Beef

26.926

CO2e / kg

= 100 g of Beef

You can consume

0.1

kg of Beef to exhaust your daily CO2e food budget

Categories: Meat | Food

Beef production accounts for 35% of global livestock emissions¹, which is about 5% of total global emissions².

About 40% of the emissions from beef production is from methane produced in the cow's stomach¹. Manure accounts for about a fifth of the emissions, while feed contributes about 15-20%. Land use change as a result of pasture expansion makes up about 15% , whereas energy consumption and postfarm emissions represent less than 2% of the emissions in total.

Regional differences in emissions range from 14 kg CO2e / kg carcass weight (CW) to 76 kg CO2e / kg¹. Emissions are lower in wealthy countries due to better feed, genetics and animal health. In Europe, emissions are relatively low, between 14-19 kg CO2e / kg. This is because 80% of the beef production there is a co-product from dairy production. In contrast, beef production in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are over 70 kg CO2e / kg.

Opio, C., Gerber, P., Mottet, A., Falcucci, A., Tempio, G., MacLeod, M., ... & Steinfeld, H. (2013). Greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant supply chains–A global life cycle assessment. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/3/i3461e/i3461e.pdf (Figure 5); Beef production emissions = 2.5 billion t CO2e; Breakdown of emissions: Figure 5; Regional emissions: Figure 11b. ↩
Total global emissions in 2016 = 49 billion t CO2e. https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions ↩

Studies

Source	Notes	CO2e	Country origin	Country consumption	Weight
How low can we go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope reduction by 2050	Beef	32.0	Unknown	United Kingdom	0
How low can we go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope reduction by 2050	Beef	12.14	United Kingdom	United Kingdom	0
How low can we go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope reduction by 2050	Beef	12.26	Europe	United Kingdom	4
Umweltwirkungen der Ernährung-Ökobilanzierung des Nahrungsmittelverbrauchs tierischer Produkte nach Gesellschaftsgruppen in Deutschland	Table 1	20.0	Germany	Germany	8
Environmental impacts and resource use of Australian beef and lamb exported to the USA determined using life cycle assessment	Grass-fed diet: 27.2 (97% of Australian cattle is grass-fed, https://theneffkitchen.com.au/inspiration/grass-fed-vs-grain-fed-beef-explained/) Medium-fed grain diet (115 days): 23.4 Long-fed grain diet (230 days): 25.6, for premium meat such as Wagyu	27.2	Australia	USA	10
RISE Open access list 1.7	Per kg boneless meat, not cooked	41.0	Brazil	Sweden	0
Systematic review of greenhouse gas emissions for different fresh food categories	Table 5 Median; #LCA studies: 49; #GWP values: 165; Mean: 28.73; Stdev: 12.47; Min: 10.74; Max: 109.3	26.61	Unknown	Unknown	8
Greenhouse gas emissions of realistic dietary choices in Denmark: the carbon footprint and nutritional value of dairy products	Table 1; including waste; excluding waste: 27.99	31.45	Unknown	Unknown	8
Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change	domestic, fresh, cooked; CO2: 6.9, NO2: 6.6, NH4: 17	30.0	Sweden	Sweden	8
Meat eater's guide to climate change + health	Table 4 pre farmgate Beef Production System kg of CO2e per pound (kg??) of edible beef Idaho 13.86 Nebraska 16.60 Average 15.23 Per kg of consumed meat (includes moisture loss, waste loss and post-farmgate): 27.0 kg CO2e Table 5 post farmgate: Emission Sources kg of CO2e per pound (kg??) of consumed beef Processing 1.26 Domestic transport 0.33 Refrigeration (Retail) 0.08 Home cooking 1.00 Waste disposal 0.09 Total 2.76	27.0	USA	USA	6
Pendos CO2-Zähler	Rindfleisch	13.3	Unknown	Unknown	5
Klimatarier CO2 Rechner	Rindfleisch	12.29	Unknown	Unknown	5
Mat-klimat-listan	Variation 17-40 kgCO2/kg	26.0	Unknown	Sweden	6
Greenhouse gas emissions from Swedish production of meat, milk and eggs 1990 and 2005	Supplement 9, Table 5a: beef production 2005; at farm gate	15.53	Sweden	Sweden	8
Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers	Figure 1, beef (beef herd)	50.0	Unknown	Unknown	8
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	conventional	23.9	Netherlands	Unknown	4
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	Argentina	46.1	Argentina	Unknown	0
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	Poland	26.7	Poland	Unknown	0
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	Germany	20.3	Germany	Unknown	0
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	Ireland	25.6	Ireland	Unknown	0
Life Cycle Impacts of Proteinrich Foods for Superwijzer	Brazil	87.1	Brazil	Unknown	0
Ökologische Fußabdrücke von Lebensmitteln und Gerichten in Deutschland (IFEU)	Rindfleisch, Durchschnitt	13.6	Unknown	Germany	6
Greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant supply chains	regional emissions range from 14 kg CO2-eq/kg carcass weight (CW) to 76 kg CO2-eq/kg. Lower emissions in affluent countries due to better feed, genetics and animal health.	46.2	Unknown	Unknown	10
RISE Open access list 1.7	Per kg boneless meat, not cooked	28.0	Sweden	Sweden	5

Recipes

*only recipes with more than 50 grams of Beef are shown.

Recipes