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  • Livestock Responsible for 51% of Emissions, Says Worldwatch Institute
    Angelique commented on the article | over 2 years ago
    Livestock Responsible for 51% of Emissions, Says Worldwatch Institute

    Unfortunately, I just reviewed the report in detail and it is full of errors and damages the credibility of food and climate researchers.


    1. The authors are right that the FAO does not include livestock breathing emissions in GHG emissions. But when the authors add livestock breathing emissions back into total emissions, they don’t add human breathing emissions back in. So when they conclude that livestock emissions are 51% of anthropogenic emissions, they are conveniently neglecting another major source, thereby incorrectly inflating the proportion that comes from livestock.  


    2. Next the authors tackle land use. They acknowledge that the FAO counts emissions from converting land from forest to livestock use, but say the estimate is too low because it doesn’t count emissions from all the pre-existing land used to support livestock, which could instead be used to grow climate-friendly biofuels. That’s like saying we should count my bathroom floor as a GHG emitter, because I’m not currently growing biofuels on it.


    3. The authors insist that we have to look at livestock methane emissions on a shorter timeframe than the FAO does, which is arguable. But even if you agree, they do not recalibrate methane emissions from non-livestock sources as they do for livestock, saying it requires “further work.” So, just as they did with livestock breathing emissions, they inflate livestock methane emissons but conveniently neglect to inflate non-livestock methane emissions. Then of course the percent of emissions from livestock looks astronomical.


    There are other problems too; for my whole analysis see my blog post at http://eatinganimals.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/climate-chicanery/

  • Worldwatch: Livestock Account for 51% Greenhouse Gases; Meat and Dairy Must Be Replaced
    Angelique commented on the article | over 2 years ago
    Worldwatch: Livestock Account for 51% Greenhouse Gases; Meat and Dairy Must Be Replaced

    Unfortunately, I just reviewed the report in detail and it is full of errors and damages the credibility of food and climate researchers.


    1. The authors are right that the FAO does not include livestock breathing emissions in GHG emissions. But when the authors add livestock breathing emissions back into total emissions, they don’t add human breathing emissions back in. So when they conclude that livestock emissions are 51% of anthropogenic emissions, they are conveniently neglecting another major source, thereby incorrectly inflating the proportion that comes from livestock.  


    2. Next the authors tackle land use. They acknowledge that the FAO counts emissions from converting land from forest to livestock use, but say the estimate is too low because it doesn’t count emissions from all the pre-existing land used to support livestock, which could instead be used to grow climate-friendly biofuels. That’s like saying we should count my bathroom floor as a GHG emitter, because I’m not currently growing biofuels on it.


    3. The authors insist that we have to look at livestock methane emissions on a shorter timeframe than the FAO does, which is arguable. But even if you agree, they do not recalibrate methane emissions from non-livestock sources as they do for livestock, saying it requires “further work.” So, just as they did with livestock breathing emissions, they inflate livestock methane emissons but conveniently neglect to inflate non-livestock methane emissions. Then of course the percent of emissions from livestock looks astronomical.


    There are other problems too; for my whole analysis see my blog post at http://eatinganimals.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/climate-chicanery/

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