14 DAY TRIAL // It turns out people in the US really do prefer their eggs to be green, be they accompanied by ham or not. A new report made public by the Egg Industry Center says that, according to recent data, greenhouse gas emissions linked to egg production in this country have dropped by roughly 71% since 1930 until present day.
Interestingly enough, this happened despite the fact that the country's egg production has considerably upped over the past few decades.
In the report, researchers working with the Egg Industry center detail that, in 1960, the production of just one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of eggs translated into the release of 7.2 kilograms (15.87 pounds) of CO2 into our planet’s atmosphere.
By comparison, a kilogram of eggs produced in 2010 had an ecological footprint of merely 2.1 kilograms (4.62 pounds) of carbon, Environmental Leader reports.
Researchers theorize that the national egg production industry has managed to reduce the amounts of greenhouse gases it produces by paying closer attention to hen housing and manure management.
More precisely, they argue that, now that egg-laying hens live in better ventilated buildings that also have better temperature and lighting control, energy and water consumption have both been significantly reduced.
Besides, most of the manure from these hens is processed and used for crop production, which means that smaller amounts of commercial fertilizer are used, the same source details.
The researchers also say that, courtesy of increased feed efficiency, eggs production can be optimized while keeping environmental impact at a minimum.
Thus, it appears that, if technologies employed in 1960 were still in use in 2010, obtaining the egg supply recorded in the latter year would have required about 78 million more hens, 1.3 million more acres of corn and 1.8 million more acres of soybeans. Needless to say, this would have put an increased strain on the environment.