Hi, I see wool has pretty huge impacts (20 x that of mineral wool or fibreglass). Is this assuming the sheep are reared for wool purposes only? Or is this the impact of sheep reared for meat and wool is a waste/by-product? If that is the case how are the impacts and sequestration allocated (some carbon is locked into the sheep/wool)
A significant proportion of emissions for wool arise from farm production, mainly from enteric methane. When sheep digest pasture, 4.5-6.5% of the energy can be lost as methane, which is belched out. In the first two decades after its release, methane has 84-86 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide before it breaks down into CO2.
The allocation of those impacts between meat or wool however is based on economic allocation – whether more revenue is being generated from meat or wool production rather than treating wool as a waste/by-product.
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