Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2.eq) is a measure used to compare and combine the warming effect of emissions from different greenhouse gases, using single measure of impact. This is done on the basis of a conversion factor known as the Global Warming Potential (GWP), which is the ratio of the total energy trapped by a unit of greenhouse gas (e.g. a tonne of methane) over a specific period of time (normally 100 years), to that trapped by carbon dioxide over the same time period.
Table recommended resources
Environmental impacts of food: an introduction to LCA
Food systems use large amounts of natural resources and have significant environmental impacts; so what can we do to make them more…
Methane and the sustainability of ruminant livestock
The environmental sustainability of our food production methods, and what kinds of agricultural systems might be compatible with keeping global…
Climate impacts of cultured meat and beef cattle
This paper, by researchers from the University of Oxford’s LEAP project, models the climate impacts of…
New way to evaluate short-lived greenhouse gas emissions
A paper proposes a new method for evaluating the climate impact of short-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane. Different GHGs are…
