A comparative analysis of the water and carbon footprints of hybrid, plant-based, and animal-based burgers
Food production represents a complex sustainability challenge, including climate change and freshwater scarcity. In order to promote the incorporation of sustainable prepared protein dishes into the agrifood market, this study aims to assess the environmental performance of three different burgers:...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| Repositorio: | Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/55922 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2454/55922 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Alternative proteins Carbon footprint Environmental assessment Hybrid burgers Life cycle assessment Nutritional productivity Plant-based diet Water footprint |
| Sumario: | Food production represents a complex sustainability challenge, including climate change and freshwater scarcity. In order to promote the incorporation of sustainable prepared protein dishes into the agrifood market, this study aims to assess the environmental performance of three different burgers: a beef burger, a plant-based burger (soy, beans, and rice), and a hybrid burger (50-50 composition) by comparing the water use and the CO<inf>2</inf> emissions relative to their nutritional value. The environmental indicators used to perform the current study were the water footprint, the carbon footprint (CF), and their respective nutritional productivity indexes (considering fats, proteins, and carbohydrates). The water needed to produce the beef burger was 1.8 times greater than the quantity needed to produce the hybrid burger, and 21 times greater in the case of the plant-based one. In turn, regarding the CF, the beef burger emitted approximately 2 times more kgCO<inf>2</inf>e along the supply chain when compared with the hybrid burger, and 13 times more than the plant-based one. However, because the meat burger comes from cattle raised on grasslands, the greenhouse gas emissions are likely lower than those from other, less sustainable forms of beef production. The plant-based burger was, therefore, more sustainable in terms of water use and carbon emissions relative to the nutrition productivity index than the meat and hybrid options. |
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