Carbon Neutral Beef

It was an interesting idea.  Take the cost of off-setting carbon emissions of a major GHG contributor (namely beef for all purposes) and build it into the product's supply-chain, spread over multiple levels, to create a new category of product.

People seem to want to pay more for 'Organic' and other feel good labels.  Why not for Climate Change. 

Here's how I sold it:

Our goal is to not to simply burden production with the cost of offsetting, but like many other industries, efficiently pass that cost to the consumers who choose to buy and enjoy beef and related products through management and effective consumer and industry publications. By doing so as an aggregate entity, our industry can benefit from scale, and more efficiently convert the mindset of the average consumer to a new, responsible way of thinking.


In almost every scientific study on the topic of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock (specifically ruminent animals) are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

As demand for meat increases in our global economy, it is irresponsible of us to believe that humans will become vegans overnight. People love beef. It's what's for dinner! Change needs to happen, but that change can be positive, and have a positive effect on an industry that feeds our world. By creating demand and consumer awareness for Carbon Neutral Beef, we can, as an industry, cater to the changing needs of our consumers.

I decided to shut this project down since 99 out of 100 emails I get regarding the concept are companies trying to sell me SEO services to get me more visitors...  I think that's irony, but I'm not sure.


I'll keep the domain forwarding here, since the idea is still valid, and so far I haven't seen this anywhere else in the world.  Most of the interest has been from Australia, believe it or not.  From that movie with Wolverine and Moulin Rouge, I guess they have a lot of beef down under.

More awesome facts about BEEF:


Burgers
A typical beef cow produces approximately 500 lbs of meat for boneless steaks and ground beef. By regulation, a beef cow must be at least 21 months old before going to the slaughterhouse; let's call it two years. A single cow produces 114 kilos of methane per year in eructations and flatulence, so over its likely lifetime, a beef cow produces 228 kilos of methane (not including the methane from its manure). Since a single kilo of methane is the equivalent of 23 kilos of carbon dioxide, a single beef cow produces 5244 CO2-equivalent kilograms of methane over its life. If we assume that the typical burger is a quarter-pound of pre-cooked meat, that's 2,000 burgers per cow. Dividing the methane total by the number of burgers, then, we get about 2.6 CO2-equivalent kilograms of additional greenhouse gas emissions from methane, per burger, or about 5-10 times more greenhouse gas produced from cow burps than from all of the energy used to raise, feed or produce all of the components of a completed cheeseburger!


At 2.85-3.1 kg of CO2 (equiv) per burger, then, that's 428-465 kg of greenhouse gas per year for an average American's burger consumption.