Analele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru ( Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture, Montanology, Cadastre Series) Vol. 53/1/2023 CARBON FOOTPRINT IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY. CASE STUDY – MEAT INDUSTRY Author(s): Adelina MOJA 1 , Cristina CANJA 1 , Vasile PĂRUREANU 1 Institutions (1): Transilvania University, Faculty of Food and Tourism, Street Castelului, no. 148, Brasov, Romania author email: adelina.moja@unitbv.ro Corresponding author email: adelina.moja@unitbv.ro Abstract The food industry, but especially the meat industry, is a large consumer of energy, which often goes unnoticed and implicitly unassessed, both in terms of the amount of energy consumed and in terms of its impact on the environment and climate change. In this context, this study highlights energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with food processing and distribution to final consumers. The main objectives of this study are to assess the carbon footprint generated by the meat industry, its impact on the environment and climate change, and ways to reduce it. Key words: Meat industry, greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, environmental protection. INTRODUCTION Product carbon footprint (CF) is a tool to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a product along the entire supply chain, starting from raw material procurement, production, processing, value addition, packaging, storage, transportation, use, cooking, food waste and disposal. CF is a quantitative expression of greenhouse gas emissions that helps manage emissions and evaluate mitigation practices. The carbon footprint of products can help identify GHG emission "tipping points" in processing and delivery activities and guide manufacturers to identify ways to save energy (Murphy-Bokern, n.d.). Food emissions comprise three main GHGs, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Carbon dioxide is released when fossil fuels are burned to generate energy. Methane is emitted from animal digestion and during the decomposition of food waste in landfills, while nitrous oxide comes from fertilizer application for growing crops. (Naresh Kumar & Chakabarti, 2019) Methodologies for quantifying the carbon footprint of products are still evolving (Pandey et al., 2011). The comparison between different non-CO2 GHGs is made by converting their effect into the common unit of 'equivalent' carbon dioxide (CO2-eq) based on their global warming potential, relative to that of CO2 ( Naresh Kumar & Chakabarti, 2019). Methodologies and standards for GHG accounting are given by IPCC2006 guidelines, World Resources Institute (WRI) GHG protocol, ISO 14064 (parts 1 and 2), publicly available specifications- 2050 (PAS 2050) of the British Standard Institution (BSI), ISO 14025, ISO 14067 (Pandey et al., 2011). GHG emissions from 182