Vegetarian Diets Can Reduce Costs of Responding to Global Warming

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*Vegetarian Diets Can Reduce Costs of Responding to Global Warming

 

*The New Scientist February 10, 2009

_http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16573-lowmeat-diet-could-slash-cost-of-cl\

imate-change-action.html_

 

*Eating less meat could cut climate costs_

 

*By Jim Giles_

 

_Cutting back on beefburgers and bacon could wipe $20 trillion off the

_cost of fighting climate change. That's the dramatic conclusion of a

_study that totted up the economic costs of modern meat-heavy diets._

 

_The researchers involved say that reducing our intake of beef and _pork

would lead to the creation of a huge new carbon sink, as _vegetation

would thrive on unused farmland.__

 

The model takes into account farmland that is used to grow extra food

_to make up for the lost meat, but that requires less area, so some

_will be abandoned. Millions of tonnes of methane, a potent greenhouse

_gas, would also be saved every year due to reduced emissions from _farms.__

 

These impacts would lessen the need for expensive carbon-saving

_technologies, such as " clean coal " power plants, and so save huge

_sums, say Elke Stehfest of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment

_Agency and colleagues._

 

*Flatulent feeders__

 

*Climate-change experts have warned of the high carbon cost of meat _for

several years.__

 

Beef is particularly damaging. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is

_released from flatulent cows and by manure as it decays. Furthermore,

_to produce a kilogram of beef (2.2 pounds), farmers also have to feed

_a cow 15 kg of grain and 30 kg of forage. Grain requires fertiliser,

_which is energy intensive to produce.__

 

Stehfest has now weighed the economic impact of beef and other meats

_against the cost of stabilising carbon dioxide levels at 450 parts _per

million - a level that some scientists say is needed to help _prevent

dangerous droughts and sea level rises.__

 

If eating habits do not change, Stehfest estimates that emissions _would

have to be cut by two-thirds by 2050, which is likely to cost _around

$40 trillion.__

 

If, however, the global population shifted to a low-meat diet - _defined

as 70 grams of beef and 325 grams of chicken and eggs per _week - around

15 million square kilometres of farmland would be freed _up. Vegetation

growing on this land would mop up carbon dioxide. It _could

alternatively be used to grow bioenergy crops, which would _displace

fossil fuels.__

 

*Supermarket labels_

 

*_Greenhouse gas emissions would also fall by 10% due to the drop in

_livestock numbers, she calculates. Together, these impacts would _halve

the costs of dealing with climate change by 2050.__

 

To help consumers, the environmental cost of meat, in terms of carbon

_emissions per portion, could also be included in the purchase price,

_says Stehfest.__

 

The costs sound about right, says Raymond Desjardins of Agriculture _and

Agri-Food Canada. However, it may be unfair to compare future _farms to

current ones, he adds.__

 

Journal reference: Climatic Change (DOI: 10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6)

 

 

 

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