2026-10-13T04:36:51Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33826000 2026-09-15T22:01:53Z category_575 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Data Sheet 1_Exploring the carbon footprint of Chinese beef systems – a life‑cycle assessment, decoupling analysis and spatial effects.docx Xianghui Yin (24958867) Shiqin Sun (392162) Jiangge Wang (24958870) Tengyun Gao (10590763) Food Packaging, Preservation and Safety beef cattle carbon footprint life-cycle assessment sustainability Tapio decoupling model spatial durbin model Introduction<p>China’s beef cattle industry is currently in a phase of expansion, while its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission characteristics remain insufficiently elucidated. To fill this research gap, this study employed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify the carbon footprint of beef cattle production across provinces in mainland China during the period 2002–2022.</p>Methods<p>The analysis encompassed total GHG emissions across three farming scales—small-scale (1–49 heads), medium-scale (50–500 heads), and large-scale (>500 heads)—classified by annual slaughter volume, and divided the entire production system into four stages: feed cultivation, enteric fermentation, manure management, and processing and transportation.</p>Results<p>Large-scale operations exhibited relatively lower carbon intensity, with an average of 23.71 kg CO₂e per kilogram of beef, whereas all three scales demonstrated a fluctuating yet gradually increasing trend over the study period. Enteric fermentation emerged as the dominant emission source, with an annual average of 268.84 TgCO₂e. Methane consistently accounted for the largest proportion of GHG emissions, averaging 73.59% of the annual total. Spatially, both total emissions and various carbon intensity indicators showed a westward shift, with western regions lagging behind eastern regions in emission reduction performance. Decoupling analysis revealed that for most provinces from 2002 to 2022, GHG emissions from beef cattle production grew in tandem with the output value of the cattle industry. Spatial regression further identified significant agglomeration effects, with carbon intensity being significantly influenced by the economic level of the beef cattle sector, rural per capita disposable income, the share of the cattle industry in the regional economy, and grain yield.</p> 2026-09-15T22:01:53Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1849066.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Exploring_the_carbon_footprint_of_Chinese_beef_systems_a_life_cycle_assessment_decoupling_analysis_and_spatial_effects_docx/33826000 CC BY 4.0