<P> Data of a USDA study indicate that, in 2002, about 0.6% of non-solar energy use in the United States was accounted for by production of meat - producing livestock and poultry . This estimate included embodied energy used in production, such as energy used in manufacture and transport of fertilizer for feed production . (Non-solar energy is specified, because solar energy is used in such processes as photosynthesis and hay - drying .) </P> <P> Changes in livestock production practices influence the environmental impact of meat production, as illustrated by some beef data . In the US beef production system, practices prevailing in 2007 are estimated to have involved 8.6% less fossil fuel use, 16.3% less greenhouse gas emissions (estimated as 100 - year carbon dioxide equivalents), 12.1% less withdrawn water use and 33.0% less land use, per unit mass of beef produced, than in 1977 . From 1980 to 2012 in the US, while population increased by 38%, the small ruminant inventory decreased by 42%, the cattle - and - calves inventory decreased by 17%, and methane emissions from livestock decreased by 18%; yet despite the reduction in cattle numbers, US beef production increased over that period . </P> <P> Some impacts of meat - producing livestock may be considered environmentally beneficial . These include waste reduction by conversion of human - inedible crop residues to food, use of livestock as an alternative to herbicides for control of invasive and noxious weeds and other vegetation management, use of animal manure as fertilizer as a substitute for those synthetic fertilizers that require considerable fossil fuel use for manufacture, grazing use for wildlife habitat enhancement, and carbon sequestration in response to grazing practices, among others . Conversely, according to some studies appearing in peer - reviewed journals the growing demand for meat is contributing to significant biodiversity loss as it is a significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction . </P> <P> Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in Southeast Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America . It is locally used as a cooking oil, exported for use in many commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel . It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area as soyabeans, rapeseed or sunflowers . Oil palms produce 38% of vegetable oil output on 5% of the world's vegetable - oil farmland. Palm oil is under increasing scrutiny in relation to its effects on the environment . </P>

What is the impact of increasing population on the environment