Life Cycle Carbon Footprint Calculator for Maple Syrup Production
This tool is for maple syrup producers operating within the region of the North American Maple Syrup Council in the United States and Canada who are interested in gaining a better understanding of the carbon footprint of their operation. The calculator is a simplified version of the model developed during the project “Life cycle carbon footprint analysis and improvement strategies for US maple syrup production”, conducted from 2022 – 2025 with the support of a USDA ACER grant to the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan.
Please enter the following information for the past year of your sugaring operation.
Understanding Your Results
kg CO2e = kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent
A 25 MPG gasoline car produces about 1 kg CO2e per 5 miles of driving
Biogenic emissions are those that come from organic matter, in this case burning wood, while fossil emissions are from fuels like diesel or gasoline.
How do your emissions compare to other syrup producers?
The following table shows emissions ranges for different production scales and evaporator fuels from the project publication Carbon and Energy Footprinting Across Archetypes for US Maple Syrup Production, which describes in detail the carbon footprint model this calculator is based on.
Producer Size | Number of Taps | Emissions Range (kg CO2e / gal) | ||
fuel | low | high | ||
Small | < 1000 | Wood | 27 | 118 |
Oil | 18 | 65 | ||
Medium | 1,000 – 10,000 | Wood | 14 | 105 |
Oil | 9 | 53 | ||
Electric | 4.5 | |||
Large | > 10,000 | Oil | 7 | |
Electric | 3.5 | |||
To learn more about greenhouse gas impacts, see the UM Center for Sustainable Systems factsheet on Greenhouse Gases.