GW : Another way leading to Global Warming - Cattle Burping

Cattle burping and causes :

Often we see cattle herd sitting in the middle of the road, in a "constantly chewing" mode as we honk. This doesn't only create the traffic nuisance, but according to the researchers, cattle burping, or say cattle belching, is constantly enhancing the speed of global warming.

If CO2 emitting from vehicles and exhaust has potential of causing the global warming 1, then Methane, which is emitted by ruminating animals like cattle and sheep during their digestive cycle whenever they belch, and Nitrous Oxide, N2O , which is emitted from their manure, can have potential of 20 and 300-315 respectively of causing the global warming.

Some datas from india :

The rate of emission of greenhouse gas from the livestock of india is twice as much as the emissions from vehicles, according to the study of IIM-Ahemadabad. Nearly 1.35 million tonnes of methane and 0.025 million tonnes of N2O was released into the atmosphere by Gujarat in the last year.

Nearly 55-60% of CO2 equivalent emissions from Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and nearly half of Mehsana, Anand and Patan district, are due to Methane which is emitted by the livestocks. The emissions from Panchmahals, Dahod and Narmada districts are also dominated by methane. Most of the time, the N2O emission is also from the nitrogenous fertilizers. Nearly 0.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions each year, is due to cattle burping.

Economical Aspect :

Unlike today, in the near times, GHG emmissions are going to attract penalty everywhere. If this situation occurs, then going accordingly by the price of 25 Euros per ton of CO2 in the European Union Emission Trading System (EUETS), annual emission of each cow would cost Rs 1,100. According to the cost of life cycle, a litre of cow milk would become more expensive by Rs 3.64 and buffalo milk by Rs 2.51. The consumers in developed countries who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol (according to which India has no binding emission reduction commitment) are paying this additional cost of emissions in animal products.

The daily sectors can get the benefit in near times. If the livestock owners reduce these emissions from their cattle, they will be credited under the clean development mechanism (CDM). Especially Gujarat can extract the benifit out of this because of having 22 million livestock and an outstanding dairy industry. Income from the CDM project will be beneficial in generating additional income for farmers as well as in reducing the price of animal product such as milk etc.

All over the world the livestock holders deploy various methods to reduce emissions from livestock viz. feeding concentrates instead of forage to the cattle reduces Methane emission. In the coming times, emission per animal product will be reduced by breeding. Such technological and management innovations can be trusted to qualify for emission reduction permitted under the clean development mechanism.