scholarly journals The Impacts of Dietary Change on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Land Use, Water Use, and Health: A Systematic Review

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e0165797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukasz Aleksandrowicz ◽  
Rosemary Green ◽  
Edward J. M. Joy ◽  
Pete Smith ◽  
Andy Haines
2014 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Arent ◽  
Jacquelyn Pless ◽  
Trieu Mai ◽  
Ryan Wiser ◽  
Maureen Hand ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9926
Author(s):  
Anna Kustar ◽  
Dalia Patino-Echeverri

This paper’s purpose is to shed light on the current understanding of the environmental benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets, considering the inclusion of a significant share of processed foods, such as plant-based burgers. We review recent Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of the three main diet types, omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan, and then assesses the environmental impacts of adding two commercial brands of plant-based burgers to vegetarian and vegan diets. The recent literature confirms that compared to omnivore diets adhering to the same dietary guidelines, vegan diets reduce land-use impacts by 50–86%, water use by 22–70%, and greenhouse gas emissions by 21–70%, while vegetarian diets achieve reductions of 27–84% in land use, 15–69% in water use, and 24–56% in greenhouse emissions. The environmental benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets are not affected by the consumption of highly processed plant-based burgers. Consumers reduce land use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions between 87% and 96% by choosing a Beyond or Impossible burger instead of a regular beef patty. These results are robust to the uncertainties associated with a variety of beef production systems; there is no indication that a situation or condition may make beef burgers more environmentally friendly than these two plant-based alternatives, or that the addition of plant-based meats to vegan and vegetarian diets may reduce their environmental benefits.


2011 ◽  
pp. 224-228
Author(s):  
Uwe Lahl

The study proposes a regional approach to calculating indirect land use change (iLUC). The goal is to determine the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of biofuels brought about by iLUC in a specific region. A regional approach can be based on the conditions specific to the respective region and the data for this region which is contained in country statistics. This makes the results more resilient. It also appears that LUC is mainly caused locally or regionally. Relevant policy scenarios for different regions were calculated with a regional model. The calculations show reliable results. It is possible to introduce such a regional model in regulations for combating iLUC. The analysis of the policy options for combating iLUC shows that a regional approach would have a much more effective steering effect.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Hao ◽  
Yu Ruihong ◽  
Zhang Zhuangzhuang ◽  
Qi Zhen ◽  
Lu Xixi ◽  
...  

AbstractGreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rivers and lakes have been shown to significantly contribute to global carbon and nitrogen cycling. In spatiotemporal-variable and human-impacted rivers in the grassland region, simultaneous carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions and their relationships under the different land use types are poorly documented. This research estimated greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4, N2O) emissions in the Xilin River of Inner Mongolia of China using direct measurements from 18 field campaigns under seven land use type (such as swamp, sand land, grassland, pond, reservoir, lake, waste water) conducted in 2018. The results showed that CO2 emissions were higher in June and August, mainly affected by pH and DO. Emissions of CH4 and N2O were higher in October, which were influenced by TN and TP. According to global warming potential, CO2 emissions accounted for 63.35% of the three GHG emissions, and CH4 and N2O emissions accounted for 35.98% and 0.66% in the Xilin river, respectively. Under the influence of different degrees of human-impact, the amount of CO2 emissions in the sand land type was very high, however, CH4 emissions and N2O emissions were very high in the artificial pond and the wastewater, respectively. For natural river, the greenhouse gas emissions from the reservoir and sand land were both low. The Xilin river was observed to be a source of carbon dioxide and methane, and the lake was a sink for nitrous oxide.


GCB Bioenergy ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 627-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Richards ◽  
Mark Pogson ◽  
Marta Dondini ◽  
Edward O. Jones ◽  
Astley Hastings ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1619) ◽  
pp. 20120171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian L. Galford ◽  
Britaldo Soares-Filho ◽  
Carlos E. P. Cerri

The Brazilian Amazon frontier shows how remarkable leadership can work towards increased agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability without new greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to initiatives among various stakeholders, including national and state government and agents, farmers, consumers, funding agencies and non-governmental organizations. Change has come both from bottom-up and top-down actions of these stakeholders, providing leadership, financing and monitoring to foster environmental sustainability and agricultural growth. Goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land-cover and land-use change in Brazil are being achieved through a multi-tiered approach that includes policies to reduce deforestation and initiatives for forest restoration, as well as increased and diversified agricultural production, intensified ranching and innovations in agricultural management. Here, we address opportunities for the Brazilian Amazon in working towards low-carbon rural development and environmentally sustainable landscapes.


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