The study, published in the August issue of Animal Science Journal, examines beef production from calf birth to slaughter, including transporting feed but not the meat. Most greenhouse gas emissions from cattle production are methane (the always-good-for-a-laugh fact that ruminants release methane from the nether end of their digestive systems), while almost all the CO2 itself is the result of fossil fuel used to generate energy to produce and transport feed. For those who can stomach neither beef-abstinence nor the purchase of enough carbon offsets to balance their carnivory, cheer up: a 2003 study from Sweden concluded that organic beef, from cattle that eat the grass they trod rather than concentrated feed trucked to them, is responsible for 40 percent less greenhouse emissions than standard beef, and requires 85 percent less energy to produce, pound per pound.
