National Food Research Institute, Kannondai 2-1-12, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan.
J Environ Manage. 2012 Jan;93(1):218-24. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.09.017. Epub 2011 Oct 13.
The food industry is one of the world's largest industrial sectors, hence a large contributor of greenhouse gases (GHG) which cause global warming. This study evaluates the life cycle of various types of meat to determine if the GHG emission from the meat industry in Japan could be reduced if the population makes different dietary choices. It was confirmed that the GHG emission of beef was greater than that of pork or chicken. The GHG emission from meat in general also depends on the per capita caloric intake (if meat supplies the recommended animal protein or contributes to it at the present rate). In a healthy and balanced diet (9.2 MJ i.e., 2200 kcal in total, where either mixed meat or chicken or pork or beef contributes 2.2%), the GHG emission is estimated to be 0.28 or 0.17 or 0.15 or 0.77 kg CO₂ eq/person/day, respectively. A change in consumption patterns (from beef to chicken or pork) and the adoption of a healthy and balanced diet would help to abate about 2.5-54.0 million tons (CO₂ eq) produced by the meat industry each year in Japan.
食品工业是世界上最大的工业部门之一，因此也是温室气体（GHG）的主要排放源之一，这些温室气体会导致全球变暖。本研究评估了各种类型肉类的生命周期，以确定如果人们做出不同的饮食选择，日本肉类行业的温室气体排放量是否可以减少。研究结果证实，牛肉的温室气体排放量大于猪肉或鸡肉。肉类的温室气体排放量通常还取决于人均热量摄入（如果肉类提供推荐的动物蛋白，或者以目前的速度贡献动物蛋白）。在健康均衡的饮食中（9.2MJ，即总热量为 2200 卡路里，其中混合肉类、鸡肉、猪肉或牛肉分别贡献 2.2%），温室气体排放量估计分别为 0.28 或 0.17 或 0.15 或 0.77kg CO₂ eq/人/天。消费模式的改变（从牛肉改为鸡肉或猪肉）和健康均衡饮食的采用将有助于减少日本肉类行业每年产生的约 2500 万至 5400 万吨（CO₂ eq）温室气体。
