Animal AgricultureAn Unsustainable Future

Presentation by Rebekah Taviss

“3 Reasons Livestock Damages the Environment”. 2012. http://vegonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/livestock-factory-farming.jpg

What should we focus on?

• Population• Land• Water• Air• How can we (engineers) help?• How can we (consumers) help?

(Over) Population

• 1812 – 1 billion• 1912 – 1.5 billion• 2012 – 7 billion

• Today – 7.3 billion

• 2050 – 9 billion

Caburian, W. “The More, the Merrier?” The WP Wire. 2015. http://thewpwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/overpopulation.jpg

Land

Henner, M. “Factory Farming is Destroying the American Landscape”. Inhabitat. 2014. http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/08/Mishak-Henner-Feedlot-Photography-6.jpg

Water

• Fresh water – 2.5% of all water on Earth

Calgary Korean Baptist Church. “Water”. 2013. http://calgarykb.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/water08.jpg

Our water “fixes” aren’t fixing anything

• Consumption of the average American:– 206 pounds of meat/year• 46 pounds of pig• 58 pounds of cow• 102 pounds of chicken & turkey

– 248 eggs– 616 pounds of dairy

Equivalent to 405,000 gallons of water.

Air• Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions• Livestock and their by products are responsible for 51% of all

worldwide emissions

Fenner, J. “Beetles to Reduce Global Warming Caused by Cattle”. Liberty Voice. 2013. http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Cattle-Global-Warming-Methane-Emissions-650x459.jpg

CO2 is the least of our concerns

• Methane– 25-100 times more destructive on a 20 year time

frame– Global warming potential 86 times that of CO2

• Nitrous Oxide– 65% of all human-related emissions come from

livestock– 296 times the global warming potential of CO2

– Stays in the atmosphere for 150 years

What can the engineer do?

Overunder & Yale Wolf. “Nothing, Nevada”. Unurth Street Art. http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/633/138239/over-under_yale-wolf_nothing_2_u_1000.jpg

We have a choice to make

• Land required to feed one person for a year:• Animal-based diet (meat-eater) – 3 acres• Vegetarian diet – ½ an acre• Plant-based diet (vegan) – 1/6th of an acre

• Following a plant-based diet we would:• Use 1/11th of oil, 1/13th of water, and produce 50% less

CO2

• Save 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 ft2 of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 and one animal’s life everyday

We are consumers

Parkour, P. “Free Your Mind”. 2012. https://hateandanger.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/modern-slave-fear-conform-consume-tv-media.jpg