LCA of beer

____ environmental impact of beer ____

Estimated carbon footprint, loss of natural habitat potential, loss of plant and animal life potential and/or extinction potential from making, packaging, shipping and/or using these products or services.
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+ Except for CO2 emissions, estimates are based on Habitat,_Life,_Extinction_Formulas_v2 via ecofx.org. +
Estimates do not include the possible long-term ecological effects of climate change and persistent toxins.
Formulas use "human appropriated net primary production (HANPP)" to "CO2 emissions" correlation.
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1 kg(kilogram) = 2.2 lb(pounds)   1 m2(square meter) = 10.8 ft2(square feet)
1 km(kilometers) = 0.62 mi(miles)   1 liter = 0.26 gallons
Beer - a 6 pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale made by New Belgium
full life cycle analysis including all materials, production, retail and end user ecofx

CO2 from The Climate Conservancy and newbelgium.com[1]		 Some of the materials used in this product's full life cycle.
multiple fuels, glass, grain, paper
? kg ? lb		 CO2 released from the full life cycle of this product.
3.2 kg
7 lb		 Loss of natural habitat potential from the full life cycle of this product.
2.5 m2
26.5 ft2		 Loss of plant and animal life potential (in natural habitat) from the full life cycle of this product.
7.7 kg
16.8 lb		 How many of this product it would take considering its full life cycle footprint to trigger 1 potential species extinction.
61 million
Beer - a 6 pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale made by New Belgium
product materials and manufacturing

CO2 from The Climate Conservancy and newbelgium.com[1]		 Some of the materials used to manufacture this product.
multiple fuels, glass, grain, paper
? kg ? lb		 CO2 released to make this product.
1.7 kg
3.7 lb		 Loss of natural habitat potential to make this product.
1.3 m2
14.2 ft2		 Loss of plant and animal life potential (in natural habitat) to make this product.
4.1 kg
9 lb		 How many of this product if they were made to trigger 1 potential species extinction.
114 million
Beer - a 6 pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale made by New Belgium
for retail refrigeration only

CO2 from The Climate Conservancy and newbelgium.com[1]		 Refrigeration energy source.
electricity
? kg ? lb		 CO2 released from refrigerating this product by retail store.
.83 kg
1.8 lb		 Loss of natural habitat potential from refrigerating this product by retail store.
.64 m2
7 ft2		 Loss of plant and animal life potential (in natural habitat) from refrigerating this product by retail store.
2 kg
4.38 lb		 How many instances of refrigerating this product by a retail store to trigger 1 potential species extinction.
235 million

Matrix Summary

A life cycle study of one beer brand shows that the CO2 emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) -- including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management.[1] The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square meters (26 square feet).

Notes

Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.[2][3] Home brewing can reduce the environmental impact of beer via less packaging and transportation.[4]

Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO2 emissions.[1]

The use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from a store or a bar (where legal) can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption (as opposed to buying pre-bottled beer).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 http://web.archive.org/web/20180918124436/https://www.newbelgium.com/files/shared/the-carbon-footprint-of-fat-tire-amber-ale-2008-public-dist-rfs_0.pdf
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20110904005725/http://www.treehugger.com:80/files/2008/07/lca-draught-beer-vs-bottled-beer.php
  3. ↑ http://www.springerlink.com/content/a981335v284251v6
  4. ↑ http://www.simplehomebrewbeer.com/environmental-benefits-of-homebrewing-beer/. Archived
  5. ↑ http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/when-passions-c-1. Archived

See also

wikipedia:Beer

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