Technical biofuel production and GHG mitigation potentials through healthy diets in the EU

Konstantin M. Zech and Uwe Schneider ()

Agricultural Systems, 2019, vol. 168, issue C, 27-35

Abstract: Average diets in the European Union are not in line with the dietary recommendations of the World Health Organization. Too little plant-based and too much livestock-based food is consumed. Livestock production requires substantial resources and causes considerable greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), especially methane from enteric fermentation in ruminant animals. The livestock sector produces 18% of GHGE worldwide and uses 52% of the crops supplied in dry matter within the EU. Most livestock species are relatively poor feed converters. They require multiple units of feed to produce a unit of meat, milk, or eggs. The EU-average for this food conversion ratio ranges from 1.1 for milk to 34.2 for lamb meat on a dry-matter basis (Wilkinson, 2011). In addition to the impacts on the ecosystem, excess consumption of meat is also associated with substantial health risks.

Keywords: Healthy diets; Livestock emissions; GHG mitigation; Biofuels; Land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agisys:v:168:y:2019:i:c:p:27-35

DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2018.10.004

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