Eat Less Meat and Dairy, Save the World

Eat less dairy and meat, save the world. It’s the vegan’s ultimate dream slogan, and Swedish scientists from the Chalmers University of Technology just might make it a reality. According to a new study being published tomorrow in Climate Change, unless we change our eating and farming habits, we’re in danger of not meeting the UN’s climate target of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius.

Emissions from transportation, like cars and planes, are easily the worst climate polluters, but even if we fixed all that by 2050, it wouldn’t be enough. One-third of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from our agricultural and food production, and this includes cow farts that are full of methane. The Chalmers researchers estimate that if these agricultural emissions are not addressed, the nitrous oxide created by fields of agricultural soils and the methane produced by animals like cows will double by 2070. This would make meeting the UN’s climate target impossible.

"We have shown that reducing meat and dairy consumption is key to bringing agricultural climate pollution down to safe levels," said Fredrik Hedenus, one of the study authors, in a statement about the upcoming study.

Hedenus and his fellow scientists constructed an idealized “Climate Carnivore scenario” in their study where 75 percent of all dairy and “ruminant meat” is replaced by other meat. Animals that are classified as “ruminant meat” are those that have a rumen, a sac found in four-legged and hooved animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and deer. This rumen helps these herbivores digest plant-based food by fermenting it first. This digestive process, however, produces methane which has 23 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Hence, why we should be eating more chicken.

However, "broad dietary change can take a long time” noted Hedenus in a statement, adding “we should already be thinking about how we can make our food more climate friendly." It’s true. No one likes being told what they can or cannot eat. Even inside the study, which Motherboard got a chance to review, this sentiment was repeated. An excerpt: “Policy-driven dietary changes are contentious and would almost certainly emerge only after productivity improvements and technical measures largely have been exhausted.”

So what are these “productivity improvements” and “technical measures” that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our agricultural processes? Well, the technology to do this doesn’t really exist yet. The study puts forth some ideas based off current technology, like the idea that the production of methane by livestock “may be reduced by 20 percent, either by fat additives or other additives in non-pasture feed.” In other words, put stuff in the cows food that makes them fart less methane.

Another idea is how the animal poop (manure) is processed, which could be made more efficient. Another excerpt from the study:

Mitigation of manure emissions is arguably most effectively done by using either anaerobicdigester or coverage and flaring of methane in slurry systems. Both options reduce CH4 [Methane] and N2O [nitrous oxide] by around 70% (Montes et al. 2013). There is an even greater N2O mitigation potential if solid manure systems are converted to slurry systems. We assume a gradual transition first from solid systems towards slurry systems, and thereafter to slurry systems with flaring. This means that regional aggregate emission factors of CH4 and N2O from manure management drop by 30–70 % to 2070 compared to year 2000.

A slurry system, otherwise known as a slurry pit, is a way for farmers to convert animal poop into fertilizer, which is gathered in a circular concrete hole.

"These emissions can be reduced with efficiency gains in meat and dairy production, as well as with the aid of new technology," said co-author of the study Stefan Wirsenius in a statement. He continued, "but the potential reductions from these measures are fairly limited and will probably not suffice to keep us within the climate limit, if meat and dairy consumption continue to grow."

A 70 percent drop in methane and nitrous oxide just from better poop management does seems pretty significant though. Also, don’t underestimate the determination of the Ron Swansons (or the McDonalds and Burger Kings) of this world. But if there is a will, there is a way, and as the study concludes, “stronger advancement of technology than assumed in this study could significantly relax the need for dietary changes.”