Meat production 'beefs up CO2 emissions'

Producing 1kg of beef results in more CO2 emissions than going for a three-hour drive while leaving all the lights on at home, scientists said today.

A team led by Akifumi Ogino at the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, trawled through data on aspects of beef production including calf raising, animal management and the effects of producing and transporting feed.

They are calling for an overhaul of the beef industry, after their audit revealed producing the meat caused substantial amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are emitted in the form of methane from belching cattle, but the meat production process also releases fertilising compounds that can wreak havoc in river and lake ecosystems.

Warming potential
The study, which is published in today's New Scientist magazine, shows that the production of 1kg of beef releases greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 36.4kg of carbon dioxide.

The production process also led to fertilising compounds equivalent to 340g of sulphur dioxide and 59g of phosphate, and consumed 169 megajoules of energy.

Over two-thirds of the energy is spent on producing and moving cattle feed.

The emissions are equivalent to the amount of CO2 released by an average car every 160 miles, and the energy consumption is equal to a 100W bulb being left on for 20 days, says New Scientist.

But the total environmental impact will be higher than the study suggests because the calculations do not include emissions from managing farm equipment and transporting the meat.

The scientists behind the study are calling for a range of measures to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry.

These include better waste management and reducing the interval between calving by a month, which the authors say could reduce the environmental impact by nearly 6%.

A Swedish study conducted in 2003 claimed that raising organic beef on grass rather than feed, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and consumed 85% less energy.

via guardian

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Chris Jordan - Portraits of American Mass Consumption

Digital artist Chris Jordan knows how to turn e-trash into photographic treasure. His large-scale images of massive amounts of statistically-inspired refuse make it all too clear just how big a problem consumer waste is. His work, which features objects from Barbies and plastic bags to e-waste and shipping containers, brings to light a tough dichotomy, presenting our gluttonous existence as consumers in a beautiful medium. He’ll be keynoting our Greener Gadgets Conference on Friday, and we can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

In his most recent exhibition, Running the Numbers, Jordan looks at contemporary American culture through “the austere lens of statistics.” Each image notes a staggering statistic, and portrays a large quantity of something (i.e. 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day). The image makes the statistic real, almost impressionistic in style, as it appears simple or monotone from afar but detailed up close (see the zoomed images of batteries and cell phones below). “The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming,” he says.

The Story of Stuff

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Watch it and think about:


This is just the intro. Watch the full doc here!

Tanx Monica.

Airsick: An Industrial Devolution

Twenty days। Twenty thousand still images. A single message. Toronto Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk captures the issue of global warming in a video created entirely by using still images. It's part of the countdown to Earth Hour, March 29.
The Star's Lucas Oleniuk started with a simple idea: to illustrate the phenomenon of climate change with images taken in our own back yard.

Armed with a concept and a camera, he set out for 20 days in Ontario - capturing some 40,000 time-lapse images in the process. Of those, about 20,000 were used to create the video you are about to see.

"Airsick: An Industrial Devolution" is more than just another video. It is a statement, a warning, a wake-up call. And it dovetails perfectly with the Star's commitment to Earth Hour, a global action slated for March 29 - when people in cities around the world will turn out their lights for an hour to take a stand against climate change. (The Earth Hour organization calls our changing weather patterns "the greatest threat our planet has ever faced.")

For essays by noted writers, a blog by our environmental reporters, and the HD version of Airsick, please see our special section devoted to earth hour at thestar.com/earthhour.

Good journalism, we like to believe, has the power to make a difference - to make the world a better place. That, ultimately, is the purpose of this video.