Restaurants explore cutting carbon emissions
News Article - 29 May 2008
Category:
Environment
The UK's restaurant industry is reportedly exploring ways of
reducing their
carbon footprints.
A study by the University of Nottingham found that cheaper meals
tend to come with higher
carbon footprints because
of the
emissions caused when they are imported.
Carbonaccounting software can help restaurants and
other businesses to identify ways in which they can boost their
green credentials and reduce costs.
The Nottingham environmental study of 40 London restaurants by BSc
student Will Brookes discovered that the environmental cost of
restaurant meals is much higher than previously thought.
"Everyone knows that importing food inevitably creates more CO2
than locally sourced foodstuffs," Mr Brooke explained. "But we were
stunned to discover that the CO2 produced by meals based on
imported ingredients from non-European countries is on average more
than a hundred times higher than that of ingredients produced in
Britain."
Entitled the Environmental Sustainability of the British Restaurant
Industry: A London Case Study, the report recommends that the
government conduct a full environmental audit of the UK's
restaurants.
An average dish using ingredients from non-EU countries produces
over five kilograms of
carbon dioxide in transport, while locally
sourced ingredients produce just 51 grams. Food transport produces
an estimated 35 per cent of Britain's total
emissions.
The House of Commons environmental audit committee recently advised
that every adult in the UK should be issued with a
carbon ration that is used when they purchase
airline tickets, household energy or petrol.
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