Eat Kangaroo To Save the Planet: Australian Study Says
photo by Ian Sanderson
A new report from the University of New South Wales says that Australia should be farming kangaroos instead of sheep and cattle if it wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. According to the study, if Australia replaced its 7 million cattle and 36 million sheep with 175 million kangaroos is could lower national greenhouse gas emissions by 3% a year while producing the same amount of meat. Reuters provides the details:
Methane Emissions From Kangaroos 'Negligible'
The reasoning? While methane emissions from cattle and sheep account for 11% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions, kangaroos' digestion is different and produces negligible amounts of methane.
Such a change would, however, require not just a shift in culinary taste but in attitude. "The change will require large cultural and social adjustments and reinvestment. One of the impediments to change is protective legislation and the status of the kangaroo as a national icon," the report authors' asset.
Currently, Australia has the highest per capita carbon emissions in the world: 28.1 tonnes per person.
How About Door Number Three?
If you were waiting for the pro-vegetarian plug, here it is: While there is solid logic in shifting from sheep and cattle to kangaroo to reduce methane emissions, how about at least reducing the amount of meat you eat in general, if not stop eating it altogether? Doing so is probably one of the easiest ways (assuming you don't have a dietary condition that contraindicates doing so) to reduce your personal carbon emissions. That too may take a shift in culinary taste and personal attitude, but the planet will thank you for it.