Pizzerias from Brazil pollute the air.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Based on the latest research, steakhouses and pizza places from Sao Paolo have high emissions because they use charcoal or wood burners.
Pollution scientists from seven universities participated in this research, and they established that despite greener fuel policy, Sao Paolo still has a lot of problems trying to reduce the level of pollutants.
Besides massive pollution from agricultural areas and Amazon rainforest, the burning of wood in countless of restaurants causes significant carbon emissions. The statistics showed that there are about 8.000 pizza parlors in the city making around a million pizzas every day.
It means that every pizzeria makes 800 pizzas every day in the wood-burning stoves. Worse, around a few thousands of them are made for home delivery. Because the level of pollution is so high, the consequences are not only severe, but the green fuel policy becomes ineffective as well.
Sao Paolo is the only metropolis in the world that requires drivers to use clean biofuel in their vehicles, which consists of sugarcane ethanol, soy diesel, and gasohol made 75 percent from gasoline and 25 percent ethanol.
According to Dr. Prashant Kumar from the University of Surrey in the U.K., steakhouses and pizzerias burn over 7.5 hectares of Eucalyptus forest every month to cook enough food for their customers. Worse, these places burn more than 307.000 tons of wood every year.
These numbers are highly concerning because it means that the level of air pollution is already critically and will continue to increase, while the deforestation will not stop as well. Many efforts are made in order to reduce the pollutants in the city.
A new law will require the transport system of Sao Paolo to drop off the vehicles number, which is around 7 million nowadays. Nevertheless, further research is needed in order to establish the effect of coal-fired pizza on the environment.
It is known that wood-fired stoves can reach temperatures of 1.200 degrees Fahrenheit leading to a high emission of carbon dioxide. This problem occurred before in Italy as well when San Vitaliano, a small town near Naples, prohibited the use of wood-fired ovens because of the high concentrations of carbon dioxide emissions.
Hopefully, people will change their perspective, and they will start promoting a healthier behavior towards the environment.
Image Source:North Western Business Review