Rapeseed, wheat and peas grown in Canada have considerably lower carbon footprints than those from major international competitors
A carbon footprint analysis following the ISO 14067 standard reveals that Canadian field crops have generally much lower footprints than those of international competitors due to differences in soil carbon flux and nitrous oxide emissions. Transportation-to-market of Canadian crops is proportionately important, but related emissions are often more than offset by low production-related emissions. In extreme cases, Canadian crops could be shipped to western European markets an additional 17 times before their carbon footprint would break even with crops grown in Europe.
Authors
- Ian Turner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1987-5654)
- Nathan Pelletier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1943-9008)
- Nicole Bamber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6757-2439)
Institutions
- Kelowna General Hospital (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Food
- Published
- 2025-08-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01212-0
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.15