Umweltbundesamt
Carbon Calculator of the Umweltbundesamt (German Environment Agency)

My Carbon Footprint My Carbon Footprint

Step 6 from 8

Food

How much you eat and what you eat determines the greenhouse gas emissions of your Food. To do this, the calculator records your energy requirements and key aspects of your diet.

Energy requirements generally depend on gender, age, weight and the amount of exercise you do. In terms of diet, the consumption of animal products in particular determines the size of the Carbon Footprint. This applies not only to meat, sausage and fish, but also to dairy products.

In addition, long-distance transport (especially air transport) and cultivation in heated greenhouses also drive up the Carbon Footprint. Organic food, on the other hand, is recommended primarily for reasons of biodiversity, soil and water protection, but less so for climate protection reasons, which is why it is not included in the survey.

In addition to CO2, other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide play a major role in Food, which is why they are also taken into account here.

My energy requirements

kg

My Food

People who eat little or no animal products must cover their protein and energy requirements from plant sources. This is taken into account in the Carbon Calculator. Depending on the quantities of animal products, the required compensation amount of calories for the personal energy requirement is calculated in the background and then "topped up" with pulses and nuts and added to the carbon footprint.

Average weights for orientation:

  • Cutlet: approx. 150 - 200 g
  • Fried sausage: approx. 110 g
  • Fish fingers: approx. 30 g

Please note:

  • Dairy products are often "hidden" as ingredients in processed foods (e.g. in cakes and pastries). You should therefore round up your figures generously.
  • Dairy products have very different CO2 footprints (e.g. cheese 5.7 kg CO2e/kg, butter 9.0 kg CO2e/kg, milk 1.4 kg CO2e/kg). If in doubt, you should therefore focus on your cheese and butter consumption.

Nevertheless, determining the emissions of your personal consumption of dairy products can only be an estimate.

Selection example
not at all
little

150 g cheese, 80 g butter and 0.5 L milk
rather little

400 g cheese, 150 g butter and 1 L milk,
on average

500 g cheese, 250 g butter and 1.5 L of milk
rather a lot

750 g cheese, 350 g butter and 2 L milk,
a lot

900 g cheese, 400 g butter and 2 L of milk
very much

1.1 kg cheese, 500 g butter and 3 L of milk
Airfreighted goods cannot usually be recognised in the shop, even though they produce a lot of greenhouse gases. Perishable foodstuffs from overseas (e.g. fish, asparagus, papayas or mangoes) are mainly transported by plane.

t CO2e