# Barley: Emissions

A lighter footprint at the farm gate than in the pint

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/emissions/

What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions. Emission intensity 0.40 t CO2e per t range 0.25-0.6 · cradle-to-farm-gate, temperate rain-fed and fertilised barley Global emissions per year 64.0 Mt CO2e per year 2026/27 · 0.4 t CO2e/t x 160 Mt (indicative)

Per t of barley grain at farm gate, delivered to first buyer; cradle-to-gate. Intensity: Typical farm-gate LCAs for temperate cereals (ecoinvent / Agri-footprint based summaries), indicative; for comparison, Poore & Nemecek 2018 give 1.18 kg CO2e/kg for barley consumed as beer, including malting and packaging. Global total: derived from USDA PSD and indicative intensity.

#### Share of footprint by lifecycle phase
 Extraction 85% Refining / processing 10% Movement 5%

#### Footprint by lifecycle phase

| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Extraction** | about 0.34 t CO2e/t | 85% | manufacture of nitrogen fertiliser, field N2O, diesel for tillage and harvest | lower in dryland Australia and Russia with little fertiliser, higher in high-input Europe per hectare but offset by yield | Typical farm-gate LCAs for temperate cereals (ecoinvent / Agri-footprint based summaries), indicative |
| **Refining / processing** | about 0.04 t CO2e/t for drying and cleaning; malting adds more | 10% | grain drying; for malt, kilning heat (gas) and electricity | malting energy is a large extra step not included in this grain boundary | Typical farm-gate LCAs for temperate cereals (ecoinvent / Agri-footprint based summaries), indicative |
| **Movement** | about 0.02 t CO2e/t to first buyer | 5% | truck to elevator; bulk shipping adds roughly 0.01-0.03 t/t on long routes | a quarter of barley is traded, mostly in Handysize to Panamax bulk ships | indicative |
| **Usage** | not in the boundary | – | feed barley turns into meat and milk, whose emissions are counted there; malt into beer | beer packaging (glass) is why Poore & Nemecek's barley-as-beer figure is about three times the grain figure | Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), via Our World in Data (indicative) |
| **Recycling / end of life** | not applicable | – | spent grain from breweries and malt rootlets go to feed | straw is used for bedding or left on fields | industry practice |

#### Other environmental impacts

Barley needs less water and nitrogen than wheat and tolerates salty soils. Field N2O is the main climate issue.

#### Levers to cut emissions

- Nitrogen use efficiency and lower-carbon (green ammonia) fertiliser
- Nitrification inhibitors to cut field N2O
- Renewable heat and heat recovery in malt kilns
- Reduced tillage on dryland farms

#### India

India grows only about 1.8 Mt, mostly rabi barley in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on low fertiliser, and imports little (150 kt forecast for 2026/27), so its barley footprint is small (USDA PSD).
 Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/characteristics/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/links/index.md)