Methane produced by Dairy Cattle and its

contribution to climate change

Romero Farfan, Jose Roberto1
Introduction
Population growth is challenging for agricultural systems around the world
because it means producing more food to support an increasing population in a
more efficient manner within the constraints of available natural resources,
without compromising the future of coming generations. The future demand for
livestock products in a scenario where most of the population lives in large cities,
rather than in rural areas, will dictate consumption trends in coming years. The
demand for livestock products will more than double by 2050 compared with 2000.
In developing countries, the demand will increase as a consequence of increasing
population and net income, which are usually associated with increases in
demand for animal products. On the other hand, in developed countries the
demand will increase slower than in developing countries and socio-cultural
values will be more relevant in people’s food choices.
Key words: Methane, Climate change, Green house gases
Livestock and pollution
Livestock production has been criticized in recent decades for reasons such as:
use of agriculture land that could be used for human food production, water
consumption, deforestation, environmental pollution, animal welfare, human
health concerns from eating animal products etc. Since feedstuff production is
what links livestock production to land use, both directly via grazing and indirectly
via traded grain or forage, environmental sustainability is an issue of major
importance in the feed industry. Livestock supply 13% of the energy in human
diets, consume around 50% the world’s production of grains and, at the same
time, are responsible for about 14.5% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas
emissions.
The agricultural sector contributes a total of 10-12% of global anthropogenic GHG
emissions. The livestock sector is one of the largest CH4 producers, with total
emissions from the livestock sector (enteric fermentation) estimated to be 70-100
Tg/year.
Methane from Enteric Fermentation

Reference reviewed literature sources and showed that the global enteric
methane source was estimated in absolute values at 74 Tg (teragrams) for 1982
year of which 74% were contributed by cattle and 8% - 9% by each of buffalo and
sheep. According to [25], it was 84 Tg for 1990 year, 80 Tg for 1994 year, and 71
Tg, including 44 Tg from grassland-derived feed, for 2003 year. There is a distinct

1
Master student in Genetics, North East Normal University, Changchun, China.
difference in emission intensity between beef produced from dairy herds and from
specialized beef herds. Related emissions amount to 1.1 Gt, representing 46%
or 43% of the total emissions in dairy and beef supply chains, respectively.

Interest in measuring enteric CH4 emissions has moved from a focus on

nutritional inefficiency to one of contributing to GHG concentrations in the
atmosphere and climate change. Measurement of CH4 emissions due to enteric
fermentation must be also taken under conditions as close as possible to typical
as found in farming systems.
Methane and air composition
Methane is a chemical compound with a high combustion energy, 55.5 MJ/kg. It
is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing 20% to total anthropogenic
emissions, and it is responsible for one-third of all global warming over the last
250 years. The methane concentration in the atmosphere has increased 2.5-fold
over three centuries. The agriculture sector contributes to a large extent to GHG
emissions. Methane (CH4) gas has a shorter turn-over time (about 10 years) in
the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2), and can trap heat about 20 times
more effectively than CO2. Methane is therefore one of the gases that needs to
be considered in climate mitigation approaches, as it is responsible for the
destruction of the ozone layer and increased global temperature.
Unpolluted air mainly contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases.
The other gases are: argon (0.9%), neon (less than 0.01%), helium (less than
0.01%), krypton (less than 0.01%) xenon (less than 0.01%) and radon (less than
0.01%). The concentration of CO2 has been about 0.03% in the past, but it is
increasing and approaching 0.04% as a result of human activities.
Methane (CH4) has 28-fold higher greater global warming potential than carbon
dioxide (CO2). Methane emissions to the atmosphere derive from both natural
sources, e.g. natural wetlands, termites, ocean and hydrates, and anthropogenic
sources, e.g. rice fields, ruminants, landfills, biomass burning and fossil fuels. The
13 concentration of CH4 in the atmosphere has increased from 750 ppb during
pre-industrial times to about 1800 ppb today as a consequence of human
activities. In such a scenario, the contribution of the livestock sector to the total
anthropogenic CH4 emissions is important. Within the livestock sector, it is clear
that cattle (beef and dairy) have the highest total GHG emissions (CO2
equivalents) compared with monogastric animals. Most of the GHG contribution
of ruminants per unit of edible product (>40%) comes from enteric CH4
fermentation.
Global warming and methane

Global warming due to the increase in atmospheric gases such as CH4 and CO2
is an important issue. The greenhouse effect is due to absorption of solar infrared
radiation by gases and the Earth’s surface, which are then heated and re-emit
infrared radiation of a lower frequency with higher absorptive power. It has been
predicted that by the year 2030, the world will be 1-2 °C warmer than today.

Global warming potential from ruminants cannot be neglected, but statistics

sometimes exaggerate its contribution. It is also important to standardize the
criteria for measuring GHG emissions, since there is great variation in current
estimates. For instance, in some cases such exaggerated estimates detract from
the major cause of climate change, which is mainly associated with combustion
of fossil fuels. Ruminants have the advantage of transforming carbon from
photosynthesis into human-edible food and, from an ecological point of view, CH4
emissions from ruminants can be considered recyclable carbon.

The agricultural sector contributes a total of 10-12% of global anthropogenic GHG

emissions. The livestock sector is one of the largest CH4 producers, with total
emissions from the livestock sector (enteric fermentation) estimated to be 70-100
Tg/year.
Methane Mitigation Strategies

An abundance of CH4 mitigation strategies have been studied and they can be
classified into 3 broad categories:
Feeds, feeding management, and nutrition: feeding good-quality feeds can
increase animal productivity and feed efficiency. Certain feeds can enhance
propionate or decrease acetate production (Equations 2 and 3), decreasing H2
that would be converted to CH4.

Rumen modifiers: feeding specific substances that directly or indirectly inhibit

methanogenesis or using biological control (defaunation, bacteriocins,
bacteriophages, and immunization) directed at reducing methanogens.
Increasing animal production through genetics and other management
approaches: improving nutrient utilization for productive purposes to dilute out
maintenance on an individual animal or a herd basis, increasing feed efficiency
and decreasing CH4 per unit of product (meat or milk). Total CH4 emissions will
be decreased if annual production of milk remains constant and fewer cows are
needed to produce the same amount of milk.
Conclusion
Animal husbandry is an important contributor to global emissions of greenhouse
gases, in particular of methane. Enteric fermentation from livestock ruminants is
a large source of methane, which has a global warming potential 23 times that
of carbon dioxide.
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