McDonald's will study the methane produced by cattle used for its burger, as part of a project to help reduce greenhouse emissions McDonald's, which uses beef from 350,000 cattle a year and is one of Europe's largest beef buyers, has launched a study into emissions from cattle on 350 farms across Britain. Gas produced by flatulent livestock accounts for four per cent of UK's total carbon emissions and is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse agent. McDonald's believes it can use the results of its study, the first of which are due in April, to help suppliers reduce methane through changes to farming practices. It is also thought the move will help the chain's efforts to reposition itself as a socially responsible corporation. Food for thought Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, has already called for the food industry to look at ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "We have been working successfully for some time now to reduce carbon emissions in many areas of our business," said Steve Easterbrook, chief executive of McDonald's UK. "We are very excited by the development of this ground breaking project which we are piloting in the UK and which will help drive further reductions in our beef supply chain. At the same time, it should also deliver real financial benefits to the farmer." It will be the first project of its kind that can provide accurate data from working farms, and has been developed with the help of energy audit consultancy, E-CO2 Project. "There has been a lot of discussion and speculation about the greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production," said Peter Darlington, a director of The Eco2 Project. "This model will for the first time bring transparent data from real farms to accurately inform that debate." McDonald's buys beef from more than 16,000 British and Irish farmers. Did you know? Producing a single cheeseburger involves the emission of around 3.1 kg of carbon dioxide 400 litres Amount of methane produced by a single dairy cow every day

McDonald's will study the methane produced by cattle used for its burger, as part of a project to help reduce greenhouse emissions

Fast food giant to investigate farting cows

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Fast food giant to investigate farting cows

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