IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v63y2013icp1065-1074.html

Mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in food through realistic consumer choices

Author

Listed:
  • Hoolohan, C.
  • Berners-Lee, M.
  • McKinstry-West, J.
  • Hewitt, C.N.

Abstract

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions embodied in 66 different food categories together with self-reported dietary information are used to show how consumer choices surrounding food might lead to reductions in food-related GHG emissions. The current UK-average diet is found to embody 8.8kgCO2eperson−1day−1. This figure includes both food eaten and food wasted (post-purchase). By far the largest potential reduction in GHG emissions is achieved by eliminating meat from the diet (35% reduction), followed by changing from carbon-intensive lamb and beef to less carbon-intensive pork and chicken (18% reduction). Cutting out all avoidable waste delivers an emissions saving of 12%. Not eating foods grown in hot-houses or air-freighted to the UK offers a 5% reduction in emissions. We show how combinations of consumer actions can easily lead to reductions of 25% in food related GHG emissions. If such changes were adopted by the entire UK population this would be equivalent to a 71% reduction in the exhaust pipe emissions of CO2 from the entire UK passenger car fleet (which totalled 71MtCO2eyear−1 in 2009).

Suggested Citation

  • Hoolohan, C. & Berners-Lee, M. & McKinstry-West, J. & Hewitt, C.N., 2013. "Mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in food through realistic consumer choices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1065-1074.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:63:y:2013:i:c:p:1065-1074
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513009701
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Ekstrom, Marianne Pipping & Shanahan, Helena, 2003. "Food and life cycle energy inputs: consequences of diet and ways to increase efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2-3), pages 293-307, March.
    2. Anderson, Kevin & Bows, Alice & Mander, Sarah, 2008. "From long-term targets to cumulative emission pathways: Reframing UK climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3714-3722, October.
    3. Berners-Lee, M. & Hoolohan, C. & Cammack, H. & Hewitt, C.N., 2012. "The relative greenhouse gas impacts of realistic dietary choices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 184-190.
    4. Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, 1998. "Climate change and dietary choices -- how can emissions of greenhouse gases from food consumption be reduced?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3-4), pages 277-293, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valeria De Laurentiis & Dexter V.L. Hunt & Christopher D.F. Rogers, 2016. "Overcoming Food Security Challenges within an Energy/Water/Food Nexus (EWFN) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Martina Schäfer & Melanie Jaeger-Erben & Aguinaldo Santos, 2011. "Leapfrogging to Sustainable Consumption? An Explorative Survey of Consumption Habits and Orientations in Southern Brazil," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 175-196, March.
    3. Ghada Talat Alhothali & Noha M. Almoraie & Israa M. Shatwan & Najlaa M. Aljefree, 2021. "Sociodemographic Characteristics and Dietary Choices as Determinants of Climate Change Understanding and Concern in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Laurent Muller & Anne Lacroix & Bernard Ruffieux, 2019. "Environmental Labelling and Consumption Changes: A Food Choice Experiment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(3), pages 871-897, July.
    5. Wood, Richard & Lenzen, Manfred & Dey, Christopher & Lundie, Sven, 2006. "A comparative study of some environmental impacts of conventional and organic farming in Australia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 324-348, September.
    6. Grabs, Janina, 2015. "The rebound effects of switching to vegetarianism. A microeconomic analysis of Swedish consumption behavior," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 270-279.
    7. Chiara Lombardini & Leena Lankoski, 2013. "Forced Choice Restriction in Promoting Sustainable Food Consumption: Intended and Unintended Effects of the Mandatory Vegetarian Day in Helsinki Schools," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 159-178, June.
    8. Berners-Lee, M. & Hoolohan, C. & Cammack, H. & Hewitt, C.N., 2012. "The relative greenhouse gas impacts of realistic dietary choices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 184-190.
    9. Wisdom Dogbe & Cesar Revoredo-Giha, 2021. "Nutritional and Environmental Assessment of Increasing the Content of Fruit and Vegetables in the UK Diet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, January.
    10. Lombardini, Chiara & Lankoski, Leena, 2011. "An Economic-Psychological Model of Sustainable Food Consumption," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114403, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Daniel Hoehn & María Margallo & Jara Laso & Isabel García-Herrero & Alba Bala & Pere Fullana-i-Palmer & Angel Irabien & Rubén Aldaco, 2019. "Energy Embedded in Food Loss Management and in the Production of Uneaten Food: Seeking a Sustainable Pathway," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, February.
    12. Dogbe, Wisdom, 2022. "Implications of increasing fruits and vegetable consumption in Scotland," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321232, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    13. González, Alejandro D. & Frostell, Björn & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, 2011. "Protein efficiency per unit energy and per unit greenhouse gas emissions: Potential contribution of diet choices to climate change mitigation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 562-570, October.
    14. John Foster & Liam Wagner & Phil Wild & Junhua Zhao & Lucas Skoofa & Craig Froome, 2011. "Market and Economic Modelling of the Intelligent Grid: End of Year Report 2009," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 09, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    15. Chitnis, Mona & Sorrell, Steve & Druckman, Angela & Firth, Steven K. & Jackson, Tim, 2014. "Who rebounds most? Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for different UK socioeconomic groups," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 12-32.
    16. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Bazilian, Morgan & Griffiths, Steve & Kim, Jinsoo & Foley, Aoife & Rooney, David, 2021. "Decarbonizing the food and beverages industry: A critical and systematic review of developments, sociotechnical systems and policy options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    17. Fander Falconí & Rafael Burbano & Jesus Ramos-Martin, 2015. "De activos tóxicos a ingreso tóxico," Documentos de Trabajo CEPROEC 2015_07, Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, Centro de Prospectiva Estratégica.
    18. Xing, Hui & Spence, Stephen & Chen, Hua, 2020. "A comprehensive review on countermeasures for CO2 emissions from ships," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    19. David Bryngelsson & Fredrik Hedenus & Daniel J. A. Johansson & Christian Azar & Stefan Wirsenius, 2017. "How Do Dietary Choices Influence the Energy-System Cost of Stabilizing the Climate?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    20. Morena Bruno & Marianne Thomsen & Federico Maria Pulselli & Nicoletta Patrizi & Michele Marini & Dario Caro, 2019. "The carbon footprint of Danish diets," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 489-507, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:63:y:2013:i:c:p:1065-1074. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.