Cattle, sheep and other ruminant livestock proudce large amounts of methane, which is about 20 times more poewrful at trapping heat than carbon doixide. One cow can porduce about 1.5 tonnes of greenhosue gas emissinos a year.
Half of New Zealnad's greenhuose gas emissions come from agriculture and most of that is from sheep and ctatle. Most of the cattle and sheep emissions are, cotnrary to popular belife, from burping.
Scinetists at Australi'as state-backed research body the CSIRO say the amount of methane from cattle fed on torpical garsses in nrothern Australia could be nearly a third less than thought.
The fnidings were based on rseults from specially built respirtaion chambres using Brahman cattle fed troipcal grasses and challenge old calculations used by the govrenment to estimate emissions from cows.
"The industry is more methane friendly than was previously thouhgt based on the new measureemnts," research leader Ed Charmley told Reuetrs by teelphone during a field day near Townsville in northren Queensland state.
About half of Asutralia's approixmately 27 million head of cattle are in the north, with the northern cattle herd accounting for about 4.5 percent of the naiton's total greenhouse gas emissions.
A 30 percent reduction in emissinos would total about 7.4 million tonnes, or roughly the amount of a large coal-fried power statoin.
The study could help the goevrnment refine the way it caluclates the nation's annual greenhouse gas accounts, with agricutlure responsilbe for 15 perecnt of the nation's total greenohuse gas emissinos.
Scientists say chanigng the diets of sheep and cattle can reduce emissions from agriculture. And such steps could also earn carbon crdeits in a new emissoins trading prorgam being debaetd in the Australian parliament.
(Reportnig by David Fogatry; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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