- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
CMSC | -0.02% | 24.695 | $ | |
SCS | -1.35% | 12.797 | $ | |
BTI | -0.23% | 35.21 | $ | |
GSK | 0.51% | 39.02 | $ | |
RIO | -0.07% | 69.65 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.11% | 24.785 | $ | |
NGG | -0.96% | 65.87 | $ | |
BP | 0.9% | 33.18 | $ | |
AZN | -0.16% | 77.35 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 6.98 | $ | |
BCE | 0.04% | 33.725 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.16% | 60.1 | $ | |
BCC | -1.58% | 136.738 | $ | |
RELX | -0.9% | 45.875 | $ | |
JRI | -0.15% | 13.26 | $ | |
VOD | 0.22% | 9.681 | $ |
Can factory chicken really help save the climate?
Stephane Dahirel doesn't exactly say eat chicken and save the planet, but that is what he's hinting at as he opens a shed door on his intensive farm in Brittany, western France.
The 30,000 chickens inside will more than triple in size in less than a month and their meat will have a low carbon footprint.
"The objective is to produce the best meat possible, in the least amount of time, with the least amount of food," Dahirel said.
The two million snow-white chickens he produces every year -- bred mostly for McDonald's nuggets -- will reach their slaughter weight in less than half the time it takes on a traditional farm.
At 20 days they already weigh one kilo (two pounds) -- 20 times heavier than at birth. By the time they are slaughtered at 45 days, they will weigh over three kilos.
Chicken has the smallest carbon footprint of any meat, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), less than half the two kilos of CO2 produced for a kilo of pork, and 30 times less than that of beef.
While cows produce a lot of planet-warming methane, chickens emit very little. As much, in fact, as rice, the FAO says, or even less if they are intensively farmed.
Dahirel insisted that intensive farming is "the most efficient and rational system" for producing meat "from an economical and ecological perspective".
- Animal welfare -
But there are big drawbacks too. Despite the low emissions he claims for his chickens, producing the grain to feed them requires large amounts of land, synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.
All have effects on biodiversity and water quality. Indeed green algae blooms on beaches in Dahirel's native Brittany -- partly caused by intensive pork, poultry and dairy production -- has caused an environmental outcry and been linked to several deaths.
Intensive farming is also in the dock on animal well-being.
Dahirel raises 20 chickens per square metre (20 chickens per 10 square feet), which are kept on a litter where droppings are absorbed by wood shavings and buckwheat hulls.
Sick or abnormal chickens are killed to avoid further suffering and because the automated slaughterhouse requires a homogenous product.
"They are not robots of course, but we're looking for homogeneity," the farmer said from his veranda overlooking his three sheds, which are covered in solar panels.
- We must 'eat less meat' -
Chickens may be an optimal animal protein for carbon emissions, but not necessarily for nature, experts say.
"If we think only in terms of CO2 emissions per kilo of meat, we'd all start eating chicken. But thinking that's the solution would be a massive mistake," said Pierre-Marie Aubert, of France's IDDRI sustainable development think tank.
"If you only think in terms of carbon, a heap of things would backfire on us in the long run," he added.
Aubert said there had been a "crazy" rise in consumption of chicken in recent years, making it one of the most widely consumed meats in the world, with none of the religious and cultural taboos associated with pork and beef.
The world has become so focused on methane emissions from ruminants like cattle and sheep "that many people think substituting beef with chicken is enough, but really, we need to reduce all meat consumption," said Lucile Rogissart, of the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE).
J.Oliveira--AMWN