Why cows are a big contributor to global warming
Methane from their burps and manure is seen as the biggest concern.
Why cows are a big contributor to global warming
Methane from their burps and manure is seen as the biggest concern.
In Summary
New Zealand has since unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps in a bid to tackle one of the country's biggest sources of greenhouse gases.
In January 2023, tech billionaire Bill Gates announced he had invested in an Australian climate technology start-up that plans to reduce methane emissions of cow burps.
DAIRY FARMING: Matungu subcounty smart farm.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
While cows release a variety of greenhouse gases, the most troublesome byproduct of their digestive tracts is methane.
Carbon dioxide has been cited as the primary culprit of climate change but methane is over 80 times more powerful when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Additionally, methane emissions diffuse into the air quickly, creating a more rapid warming effect than other greenhouse gases.
Cows and other animals such as sheep, goats, deer and buffalo-ruminant animals -use a compartment of their stomach (the rumen) to break down hard fibres such as grass to prepare it for digestion.
This fermentation process creates methane gas which is then mostly belched out again.
Methane produced by other means (such as the fermentation of organic matter in landfill) can be captured and used to create electricity and heat.
Livestock production, primarily cows, produces 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to reports.
Methane from their burps and manure is seen as the biggest concern.
New Zealand has since unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps in a bid to tackle one of the country's biggest sources of greenhouse gases.
The plan would make the country the first nation to charge farmers for the methane emissions from the animals they keep.
New Zealand is home to just over five million people, along with around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep.
Almost half the country's total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane.
"There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will play a key part in how we achieve that," New Zealand's climate change minister James Shaw told the BBC
Under the proposal, farmers will have to pay for their gas emissions from 2025.
The plan also includes incentives for farmers who reduce emissions through feed additives, while planting trees on farms could be used to offset emissions.
A researcher in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University in the US Zhongtang Yu says methane is “not just bad because it is a greenhouse gas, but it’s a waste of feed.”
Yu’s current research examines how natural compounds can reduce the number of protozoa in a cow’s stomach, thus decreasing the amount of methane and nitrogen a cow expels.
In January 2023, tech billionaire Bill Gates announced he had invested in an Australian climate technology start-up that plans to reduce the methane emissions of cow burps.
The Microsoft co-founder has been outspoken about the environmental impact of meat production.
University studies have also shown that feeding cows seaweed could significantly cut their methane emissions.
Agriculture takes up 30 per cent of the Earth’s land surface and livestock account for 70 per cent of this. Naturally, cows are the most land-intensive compared to other livestock: they are much bigger, eat more and produce more waste.
Beef production takes 28 times more land than chicken or pork, and 160 times more land compared to staple crops like wheat or rice.
Methane from their burps and manure is seen as the biggest concern.
In Summary
New Zealand has since unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps in a bid to tackle one of the country's biggest sources of greenhouse gases.
In January 2023, tech billionaire Bill Gates announced he had invested in an Australian climate technology start-up that plans to reduce methane emissions of cow burps.
DAIRY FARMING: Matungu subcounty smart farm.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
While cows release a variety of greenhouse gases, the most troublesome byproduct of their digestive tracts is methane.
Carbon dioxide has been cited as the primary culprit of climate change but methane is over 80 times more powerful when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Additionally, methane emissions diffuse into the air quickly, creating a more rapid warming effect than other greenhouse gases.
Cows and other animals such as sheep, goats, deer and buffalo-ruminant animals -use a compartment of their stomach (the rumen) to break down hard fibres such as grass to prepare it for digestion.
This fermentation process creates methane gas which is then mostly belched out again.
Methane produced by other means (such as the fermentation of organic matter in landfill) can be captured and used to create electricity and heat.
Livestock production, primarily cows, produces 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to reports.
Methane from their burps and manure is seen as the biggest concern.
New Zealand has since unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps in a bid to tackle one of the country's biggest sources of greenhouse gases.
The plan would make the country the first nation to charge farmers for the methane emissions from the animals they keep.
New Zealand is home to just over five million people, along with around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep.
Almost half the country's total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane.
"There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will play a key part in how we achieve that," New Zealand's climate change minister James Shaw told the BBC
Under the proposal, farmers will have to pay for their gas emissions from 2025.
The plan also includes incentives for farmers who reduce emissions through feed additives, while planting trees on farms could be used to offset emissions.
A researcher in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University in the US Zhongtang Yu says methane is “not just bad because it is a greenhouse gas, but it’s a waste of feed.”
Yu’s current research examines how natural compounds can reduce the number of protozoa in a cow’s stomach, thus decreasing the amount of methane and nitrogen a cow expels.
In January 2023, tech billionaire Bill Gates announced he had invested in an Australian climate technology start-up that plans to reduce the methane emissions of cow burps.
The Microsoft co-founder has been outspoken about the environmental impact of meat production.
University studies have also shown that feeding cows seaweed could significantly cut their methane emissions.
Agriculture takes up 30 per cent of the Earth’s land surface and livestock account for 70 per cent of this. Naturally, cows are the most land-intensive compared to other livestock: they are much bigger, eat more and produce more waste.
Beef production takes 28 times more land than chicken or pork, and 160 times more land compared to staple crops like wheat or rice.