Every day people go to fast food restaurants to grab their favorite burger, they might plan a get-together at Outback Steakhouse or they’ll sit down with their family to enjoy a nice pot roast. Little do they know about the role that these sources of beef play in the process of global warming.

In a recent study lead by Japanese researcher Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, he studied just how much energy was used in the process of producing beef, and how harmful this process was to the environment.

Just the Facts…

Part of Ogino’s study of the energy consumption of beef included every single step of the beef process, from raising the calves and feeding the animals to sending them to the factories and transporting the meat to stores. What Ogino found was astounding:

• For about the size of 4 average-sized steaks, it took 169 megajoules of energy, which is the same amount of energy a 100-watt light bulb consumes in 20 days
• One-third of all energy produced went into producing the animal’s feed and transporting them to facilities
• It was estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef produce up to 80.25 pounds of carbon dioxide (the most harmful of the greenhouse gases), which is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide produce from a car driving 50 mph for 155 miles
• A large portion of methane gas is released from a cow’s digestive system
• Animal agriculture is a large contributor to land and water pollution

These statistics didn’t even include the amount of energy that was used and the total greenhouse gases emitted from operating farm equipment!

What to Do?

Even though I’m not a big fan of beef, I don’t think that all beef production should be banned or shut down because of these findings. People are going to continue to eat meat forever, so maybe we can find alternative ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced in meat-packing facilities. Ogino and his colleagues have proposed a few ways that we can do this:

• Feed grass to cows instead of feed (emits less greenhouse gases and consumes less energy)
• Find better waste management practices to control water pollution
• Develop better animal breeding technology for healthier livestock digestive systems

You can read more in-depth explanations about these research practices here.

I hope that we can continue to find better ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions because it’s a pretty scary thought that more carbon dioxide is produced in making 2 pounds of beef than driving your car for a couple of hours. Can you imagine the message you are sending if you’re driving down the highway eating a Big Mac?