Day 011 - 12 Jul 94 - Page 41
1 million tonnes, with all but about 40 million tonnes, is
that right?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Now, if (as we hope to do during the course of this case)
we are able to calculate the amount of beef in percentage
4 terms of the world's total consumption of beef that
McDonald's uses annually, are we going to be able to
5 arrive at a rough estimate of their responsibility for
contribution to methane in the atmosphere?
6 A. Yes, we are.
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are you?
A. Yes, I am.
8
Q. You have to include dairy cattle, have you not?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And some areas where there are an awful lot of dairy
cattle they would never dream of eating the animal,
11 however it died.
A. That is certainly true, my Lord.
12
Q. That does not affect the figures.
13 A. Early this morning it was suggested that what one
could do was come up with a worst case estimate for other
14 things, and the figure I came up with is effectively a
worst case estimate of what will actually happen.
15
MR. RAMPTON: Would you like to put it in?
16 A. My worst case estimate for 1990 is about 0.4 million
tonnes, or 0.39 million tonnes.
17
Q. Of what, by whom?
18 A. That is the estimate of total methane emissions
associated with beef cattle which are used for production
19 of products by McDonald's which is about 0.6 per cent of
the world total.
20
MR. JUSTICE BELL: The world's total of what? Heads of cattle?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. That assumes that every head of cattle is turned into beef
somewhere along the line.
23 A. No, it actually assumes that all cattle, whether they
are used for beef cattle or for milk production, they emit
24 methane.
25 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I was not going to ask Professor Duxbury
to do the calculation. I merely asked the question: If we
26 are able to show what is McDonald's proportion of the
world's beef consumption annually, are we then going to be
27 able to deduce what their contribution is to the total
methane load annually? That was my question. There will
28 be evidence later on, from Mr. Gonzales, to demonstrate
what McDonald's percentage of annual world beef
29 consumption is.
30 MISS STEEL: The figures which have been given- could we be
given the starting figures so that we could try and work
