How Cow’s Gas Problems Affect the Environment
Most scientists agree now that global warming is a reality, not a postulation of science fiction. The planet is warming up, mainly because the heat from the Sun is being trapped by an excess of greenhouse gases (GHG) being released into the atmosphere.
However, whilst it is easy to point to human CO2 emissions as the primary source of global warming, a far greater problem exists that causes a lot more damage to the environment – cow flatulence.
Cows burp, fart and excrete an extraordinary amount of methane in their lives. Depending on the type of cow and their diet, anywhere between 100 and 200 litres of methane a day can be expelled from a single animal. This is particularly problematic for countries which herd a lot of livestock.
For example, India has a livestock population of approximately 485 million, which pump out an astonishing 11.75 million metric tons of methane gas each year. In New Zealand, cow excretions of methane account for 32 per cent of all of the country’s GHG emissions. Transportation in New Zealand is much less of a problem, responsible for 20 per cent of gas emissions.
When you take into account that methane gas traps 20 times more heat than CO2, the cow burping problem is a serious issue to consider in the fight for climate change. The problem is also set to get worse before it gets better. India is already the world’s largest producer of milk and will have to increase production by 80 per cent over the next two years in order to keep pace with growing demand.
The growing middle classes from China and Russia are also starting to eat more beef, adding further pressures to rear more animals and hence create more gas machines to create excess methane. Solutions are not easy to implement, mainly because the biggest livestock gas polluters are undernourished animals from poor rural areas, who cannot afford expensive food supplements to alter how much methane is produced.
Some experiments using abundant materials such as tannin and tea leaves have been met with some success though, reducing the amount of gas produced. The ultimate solution may lie in being able to harness the power of bovine methane as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Effectively capturing and utilising the gas is some way off however.
However, whilst it is easy to point to human CO2 emissions as the primary source of global warming, a far greater problem exists that causes a lot more damage to the environment – cow flatulence.
Cows burp, fart and excrete an extraordinary amount of methane in their lives. Depending on the type of cow and their diet, anywhere between 100 and 200 litres of methane a day can be expelled from a single animal. This is particularly problematic for countries which herd a lot of livestock.
For example, India has a livestock population of approximately 485 million, which pump out an astonishing 11.75 million metric tons of methane gas each year. In New Zealand, cow excretions of methane account for 32 per cent of all of the country’s GHG emissions. Transportation in New Zealand is much less of a problem, responsible for 20 per cent of gas emissions.
When you take into account that methane gas traps 20 times more heat than CO2, the cow burping problem is a serious issue to consider in the fight for climate change. The problem is also set to get worse before it gets better. India is already the world’s largest producer of milk and will have to increase production by 80 per cent over the next two years in order to keep pace with growing demand.
The growing middle classes from China and Russia are also starting to eat more beef, adding further pressures to rear more animals and hence create more gas machines to create excess methane. Solutions are not easy to implement, mainly because the biggest livestock gas polluters are undernourished animals from poor rural areas, who cannot afford expensive food supplements to alter how much methane is produced.
Some experiments using abundant materials such as tannin and tea leaves have been met with some success though, reducing the amount of gas produced. The ultimate solution may lie in being able to harness the power of bovine methane as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Effectively capturing and utilising the gas is some way off however.
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