The carbon footprint of barley (beer)
Barley (Beer) emits about 0.845 kg CO₂e per 1 litre of beer. Below is where that figure actually comes from — every stage of the chain, not a single headline number.
Where the carbon comes from
- Packaging
- 0.497 kg
- 59%
- Producing the packaging it reaches you in.
- Farm
- 0.176 kg
- 21%
- Emissions on the farm itself — livestock methane, fertiliser, fuel, manure.
- Processing
- 0.128 kg
- 15%
- Turning the raw product into food: milling, refining, slaughter, curing.
- Transport
- 0.035 kg
- 4%
- Moving it from farm to processor to shop.
- Land Use Change
- 0.009 kg
- 1%
- Carbon released when forest or grassland is cleared to produce it.
Lower-carbon alternatives
Each emits less than half as much as barley (beer).
Similar products
Common questions
- How much CO2 does barley (beer) produce?
- About 0.845 kg CO₂e per 1 litre of beer, measured across the supply chain. That is roughly the same as driving 5 km in an average petrol car.
- What drives the footprint of barley (beer)?
- Packaging is the largest contributor at 0.497 kg CO₂e, about 59% of the total. Transport is only 0.035 kg — which is why what you eat matters far more than how far it travelled.
- Where does this data come from?
- The WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates peer-reviewed life-cycle assessments. This product's figures come from Poore & Nemecek (2018).
Figures from the WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates published life-cycle assessments; this product's data originates from Poore & Nemecek (2018), for global. Real values vary by farm, region and method — treat these as the shape of the problem, not a measurement of any one item on your shelf.
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