A Japanese study shows that a kilogram of beef causes more pollution than driving for three hours while leaving all the lights on back home.
The study team was led by Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan. They counted the cost to the earth of raising cattle through conventional farming, killing the animal and shipping the meat, New Scientist reported on July 21.
Producing a kilo of beef creates the equivalent of 36.4kg of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas, Ogino found.
PHOTO: AP
Most of these greenhouse-gas emissions take the form of methane, released in cow waste.
That one kilo of beef also needs the same energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days. The energy is needed to make and ship the animals' food.
The study appears in full in Animal Science Journal.
日本一份研究顯示,生產一公斤牛肉所製造的污染,要比開三小時的車、同時讓家裡燈全開還多。
這個研究小組是由日本筑波市畜產草地研究所荻野曉史教授所領導。《新科學家》週刊七月二十一日報導,這個小組已計算出地球為傳統牛隻養殖方式、宰殺牛隻與運輸肉品所付出的代價。
荻野教授發現,生產一公斤的牛肉會製造三十六點四公斤的二氧化碳。二氧化碳是主要的溫室氣體。
溫室氣體的排放大多會以甲烷的形式,從牛糞裡釋出。
生產一公斤牛肉所需要的能量,等於連續二十天點亮一百瓦燈泡。這些能量是生產並運輸牛所吃的食物所需的。
研究的全文發表在《動物科學雜誌》。
(翻譯︰賴美君)
TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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