The environmental impact of chocolate production

The study analyzed life cycle environmental impacts associated with chocolate products made and consumed in the UK, focusing on three products which make 90% of the market: ‘moulded chocolate’, ‘chocolate countlines’ and ‘chocolates in bag’. Yes, sadly, good old-fashioned chocolate seems to have fallen out of favor to its heavily processed competitors.

But here’s the thing: chocolate takes a lot of resources to produce. A kilogram of chocolate requires about 10,000 l of water to produce and emits 2.9–4.2 kg CO2 .Professor Adisa Azapagic, Head of Sustainable Industrial Systems at the Manchester University and study author, says:

Most of us love chocolate, but don’t often think of what it takes to get from cocoa beans to the chocolate products we buy in the shop.

Read the article on ZMEScience here.
The original study abstract can be seen here. The full article is paywalled.