Greenhouse gas emissions from UK food and drink consumption by systems LCA: current and possible futures

Abstract

This work determined the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the UK food system by 70% from a 2005 baseline. A food consumption-orientated inventory was produced including primary agricultural production, food processing, distribution, preparation and disposal. Land use change (LUC) used a top-down approach. The inventory used many sources of data ranging from LCA studies to national level reporting of energy use by sectors of the economy and household surveys. The inventory was created with systems models to compare scenarios for emission reduction. The inventory for the baseline was 250MtCO2e including 100MtCO2e from LUC. Emissions without LUC from the UK food consumption system are about 20% of the current total consumption emissions. Several measures to reduce emissions were investigated, including dietary change, technical efficiency improvement, reducing waste and using non-fossil energy. Only a combination of measures achieved the 70% target reduction, but required major societal changes.