Bread: carbon footprint per kg
Live factor value
0.776 kgCO2e per kg
Source: Agribalyse (ADEME/INRAE, France), 3.1 (revision 1). Factor set agribalyse-3.1-r1.
Bread is one of the lower-footprint staples: the live per-kg figure below, from France's official Agribalyse database, covers wheat growing, milling, baking and distribution. Grain crops are efficient — no animal in the chain means no methane multiplier.
Wheat farming (especially fertiliser) and the energy of baking dominate the footprint; packaging and transport are minor. Even a daily-bread habit contributes only a small share of a typical food footprint.
Worked example
One 250 g baguette: 0.25 × 0.776 = 0.2 kgCO2e.
Measure your own with the free food calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- What drives bread's carbon footprint?
- Mostly fertiliser used in wheat growing and the oven energy in baking. Both are small per loaf — bread sits near the bottom of the food-footprint table.