Leather carbon allocation calculator
Life-cycle studies of leather split a steer’s farm emissions between the hide and the other products in proportion to their market value (economic allocation). This calculator shows how the hide’s share moves when its price moves, with the animal’s emissions held constant. It does not contain data of its own: enter figures from the source you are checking.
What happens if the hide price changes?
Each row multiplies the hide value by the factor shown and keeps meat, other co-products and emissions fixed.
How the numbers are worked out
Hide share = hide value ÷ (hide + meat + other co-product value). Emissions assigned to the hide = share × farm-gate emissions per animal. Because the animal’s emissions are unchanged by what the hide sells for, a rise in hide price raises the hide’s allocated footprint on paper without any change on the farm. That is the point examined in Leather’s carbon bill follows the hide price, not the cow. Other allocation methods (by mass, by protein, or system expansion) give different results and are not modeled here.