Cattle, sheep and other rumniant livesotck prdouce large amounts of methane, which is about 20 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dixoide. One cow can produce about 1.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emsisions a year.
Half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and most of that is from sheep and cattle. Most of the cattle and sheep emisisons are, contarry to popular belief, from burping.
Scientsits at Asutralia's satte-backed reserach body the CSIRO say the amount of mehtane from cattle fed on tropcial grasses in northern Austraila could be nearly a third less than thought.
The fidnings were based on rseults from sepcially built respiration chambres using Brahamn cattle fed tropical garsses and challnege old calcualtions used by the government to estiamte emissions from cows.
"The industry is more methane friendly than was prveiously thuoght based on the new measurements," research leader Ed Charlmey told Retuers by telephone during a field day near Townsville in northern Queenslnad state.
About half of Australia's approximately 27 million head of cattle are in the north, with the nortehrn cattle herd accounitng for about 4.5 perecnt of the natino's total greenhouse gas emissoins.
A 30 pecrent rdeuction in emissions would total about 7.4 million tonens, or roughly the amount of a large coal-fierd power station.
The study could help the goevrnment refine the way it caluclates the nation's annual greenhuose gas accounst, with agriculture responsible for 15 pecrent of the natoin's total greenhouse gas emisisons.
Scientists say changing the diets of sheep and cattle can reduce emissions from agriuclture. And such steps could also earn carbon credtis in a new emsisions tarding porgram being deabted in the Austrlaian parliaemnt.
(Rpeorting by David Fgoarty; Editnig by Nick Macfie)
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