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In terms of global warming, almond milk seems to be about 4.6 times better than cow milk. On page 8 of [1], they claim that CO2-equivalent emissions are 0.36
by greeneggs 10y ago
In terms of global warming, almond milk seems to be about 4.6 times better than cow milk. On page 8 of [1], they claim that CO2-equivalent emissions are
0.36 kg/L almond milk, and 1.67 kg/L cow milk.
(Note: This is somebody's class report, not a peer-reviewed publication.)
There is some uncertainty in these numbers, of course. If you care more about water usage, then 1L of almond milk uses on the order of 1600 gallons of water, compared to under 100 gallons of water per liter of cow milk. Again, there is some uncertainty. And I think CO2-equivalent emissions is far more important.
[1] http://www.environment.ucla.edu/perch/resources/images/cow-vs-almond-milk-1.pdf http://www.environment.ucla.edu/perch/resources/images/cow-v...
- marricks 10y agoDoes the cow milk water usage compare the water used in the crops to feed the cows? It seems staggering to me that water used would be so much less.
- akiselev 10y agoAlthough trees generally conserve water much better than animals, you need to support the entire almond tree for a few almonds whereas the cow's entire body will be used for a variety of products. The water usage of the agricultural infrastructure supporting the cow may be higher in absolute numbers but a single cow is literally hundreds or thousands of pounds of useful meat and bone after it is no longer useful as a milking cow.