One more reason why we should consume cows?

[syedali73]

Do cows pollute as much as cars?

by Jacob Silverman

Agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase by 60 percent by 2030 [Source: Times Online]. The world's 1.5 billion cows and billions of other grazing animals emit dozens of polluting gases, including lots of methane. Two-thirds of all ammonia comes from cows.

Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence. Statistics vary regarding how much methane the average dairy cow expels. Some experts say 100 liters to 200 liters a day (or about 26 gallons to about 53 gallons), while others say it's up to 500 liters (about 132 gallons) a day. In any case, that's a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.

To understand why cows produce methane, it's important to know a bit more about how they work. Cows, goats, sheep and several other animals belong to a class of animals called ruminants. Ruminants have four stomachs and digest their food in their stomachs instead of in their intestines, as humans do. Ruminants eat food, regurgitate it as cud and eat it again. The stomachs are filled with bacteria that aid in digestion, but also produce methane.

With millions of ruminants in Britain, including 10 million cows, a strong push is underway to curb methane emissions there. Cows contribute 3 percent of Britain's overall greenhouse gas emissions and 25 to 30 percent of its methane. In New Zealand, where cattle and sheep farming are major industries, 34 percent of greenhouse gases come from livestock. A three-year study, begun in April 2007 by Welsh scientists, is examining if adding garlic to cow feed can reduce their methane production. The study is ongoing, but early results indicate that garlic cuts cow flatulence in half by attacking methane-producing microbes living in cows' stomachs [Source: BBC News]. The researchers are also looking to see if the addition of garlic affects the quality of the meat or milk produced and even if the animals get bad breath.

Another study at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, is tracking quantities of methane and nitrogen produced by sheep, which provide a good comparison model for cows because they have similar digestive systems, but are less unruly. The sheep in the study are living in plastic tunnels where their methane production is monitored across a variety of diets.

Many other efforts are underway to reduce ruminant methane production, such as attempting to breed cows that live longer and have better digestive systems. At the University of Hohenheim in Germany, scientists created a pill to trap gas in a cow's rumen -- its first stomach -- and convert the methane into glucose. However, the pill requires a strict diet and structured feeding times, something that may not lend itself well to grazing.

In 2003, the government of New Zealand proposed a flatulence tax, which was not adopted because of public protest.

Other efforts look at the grazing lands being used by livestock farmers, which will be discussed in the next section.

So we know that ruminants are producing enormous quantities of methane, but why? Humans produce gases daily, sometimes to their embarrassment, but nowhere near the extent of these animals. On the next page, we'll learn more about the source of the methane problem and some of the controversy behind it.

Do cows pollute as much as cars? - HowStuffWorks

 

[Zarvan]

Do cows pollute as much as cars?

by Jacob Silverman

Agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase by 60 percent by 2030 [Source: Times Online]. The world's 1.5 billion cows and billions of other grazing animals emit dozens of polluting gases, including lots of methane. Two-thirds of all ammonia comes from cows.

Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence. Statistics vary regarding how much methane the average dairy cow expels. Some experts say 100 liters to 200 liters a day (or about 26 gallons to about 53 gallons), while others say it's up to 500 liters (about 132 gallons) a day. In any case, that's a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.

To understand why cows produce methane, it's important to know a bit more about how they work. Cows, goats, sheep and several other animals belong to a class of animals called ruminants. Ruminants have four stomachs and digest their food in their stomachs instead of in their intestines, as humans do. Ruminants eat food, regurgitate it as cud and eat it again. The stomachs are filled with bacteria that aid in digestion, but also produce methane.

With millions of ruminants in Britain, including 10 million cows, a strong push is underway to curb methane emissions there. Cows contribute 3 percent of Britain's overall greenhouse gas emissions and 25 to 30 percent of its methane. In New Zealand, where cattle and sheep farming are major industries, 34 percent of greenhouse gases come from livestock. A three-year study, begun in April 2007 by Welsh scientists, is examining if adding garlic to cow feed can reduce their methane production. The study is ongoing, but early results indicate that garlic cuts cow flatulence in half by attacking methane-producing microbes living in cows' stomachs [Source: BBC News]. The researchers are also looking to see if the addition of garlic affects the quality of the meat or milk produced and even if the animals get bad breath.

Another study at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, is tracking quantities of methane and nitrogen produced by sheep, which provide a good comparison model for cows because they have similar digestive systems, but are less unruly. The sheep in the study are living in plastic tunnels where their methane production is monitored across a variety of diets.

Many other efforts are underway to reduce ruminant methane production, such as attempting to breed cows that live longer and have better digestive systems. At the University of Hohenheim in Germany, scientists created a pill to trap gas in a cow's rumen -- its first stomach -- and convert the methane into glucose. However, the pill requires a strict diet and structured feeding times, something that may not lend itself well to grazing.

In 2003, the government of New Zealand proposed a flatulence tax, which was not adopted because of public protest.

Other efforts look at the grazing lands being used by livestock farmers, which will be discussed in the next section.

So we know that ruminants are producing enormous quantities of methane, but why? Humans produce gases daily, sometimes to their embarrassment, but nowhere near the extent of these animals. On the next page, we'll learn more about the source of the methane problem and some of the controversy behind it.

Do cows pollute as much as cars? - HowStuffWorks

Lets eat cows on daily bases

 

[syedali73]

Lets eat cows on daily bases

That is not the point! point is to keep their population in check.

The methane makers

By Dan Bell

The man behind one of the most influential reports on climate change, Lord Stern, has highlighted the impact meat production has on greenhouse gas emissions. Part of it comes through methane made by the animals as they digest food. So which farm animals expel the most methane?

A diet that relies heavily on meat production results in higher emissions than a typical vegetarian diet, says Lord Stern.

The author of the 2006 Stern Review into the cost of climate change attacked the "enormous pressure" meat production puts on the world's resources and said people were becoming increasingly aware about "low carbon consumption".

He told the BBC that cutting greenhouse gas emissions was important across the board, in areas such as electricity, transport and food.

In a 2006 report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, it said, all the world's cars, trains, planes and boats accounted for a combined 13% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Belching

The greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat consumption has many components, the largest of which is land use change - the clearing of forests for pasture or for the production of soya for animal feed. Other elements that have an impact on emissions include the rearing and slaughter of livestock, and the transport, refrigeration and cooking of meat.

There is also the nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, in the manure of animals reared for meat and the methane, another greenhouse gas, in their flatulence. Molecule for molecule, methane has a much larger warming effect than carbon dioxide.

As the diagram above shows, methane emission is dramatically higher in cows (primarily from belching) than other animals. But cutting back on eating meat is not the simple answer, say scientists.

For a start, many of the cows responsible for producing methane are not reared to be eaten, according to Elaine Matthews, a methane expert at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The breeds favoured in non-western countries are often bred for other uses, such as work, and these non-western cows are far more numerous than the larger dairy varieties reared in North America and Europe.

The larger western cows actually produce more methane per cow than their smaller non-western breeds, but because there are fewer of them, they only account for about 15% of all the methane produced by cows in general.

Meat output 'doubling'

Ms Matthews also says the quantity of methane they produce depends on the quality of food they are given. Cows that eat grain, she says, produce less methane than cows grazing on wild grass.

And methane is not the most important consideration in relation to livestock, says Friends of the Earth - it's the intensity with which they are reared.

According to the environmental pressure group, methane from livestock accounts for about 6% of greenhouse gas emissions, with 6% from CO2 released when forests are cleared for pasture and to produce soy for feeds.

What is clear is that people are eating more meat and dairy products every year.

Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The methane makers

 

[SarthakGanguly]

That is not the point! point is to keep their population in check.

The methane makers

By Dan Bell

The man behind one of the most influential reports on climate change, Lord Stern, has highlighted the impact meat production has on greenhouse gas emissions. Part of it comes through methane made by the animals as they digest food. So which farm animals expel the most methane?

View attachment 211930

A diet that relies heavily on meat production results in higher emissions than a typical vegetarian diet, says Lord Stern.

The author of the 2006 Stern Review into the cost of climate change attacked the "enormous pressure" meat production puts on the world's resources and said people were becoming increasingly aware about "low carbon consumption".

He told the BBC that cutting greenhouse gas emissions was important across the board, in areas such as electricity, transport and food.

In a 2006 report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, it said, all the world's cars, trains, planes and boats accounted for a combined 13% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Belching

The greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat consumption has many components, the largest of which is land use change - the clearing of forests for pasture or for the production of soya for animal feed. Other elements that have an impact on emissions include the rearing and slaughter of livestock, and the transport, refrigeration and cooking of meat.

There is also the nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, in the manure of animals reared for meat and the methane, another greenhouse gas, in their flatulence. Molecule for molecule, methane has a much larger warming effect than carbon dioxide.

As the diagram above shows, methane emission is dramatically higher in cows (primarily from belching) than other animals. But cutting back on eating meat is not the simple answer, say scientists.

For a start, many of the cows responsible for producing methane are not reared to be eaten, according to Elaine Matthews, a methane expert at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The breeds favoured in non-western countries are often bred for other uses, such as work, and these non-western cows are far more numerous than the larger dairy varieties reared in North America and Europe.

The larger western cows actually produce more methane per cow than their smaller non-western breeds, but because there are fewer of them, they only account for about 15% of all the methane produced by cows in general.

Meat output 'doubling'

Ms Matthews also says the quantity of methane they produce depends on the quality of food they are given. Cows that eat grain, she says, produce less methane than cows grazing on wild grass.

And methane is not the most important consideration in relation to livestock, says Friends of the Earth - it's the intensity with which they are reared.

According to the environmental pressure group, methane from livestock accounts for about 6% of greenhouse gas emissions, with 6% from CO2 released when forests are cleared for pasture and to produce soy for feeds.

What is clear is that people are eating more meat and dairy products every year.

Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The methane makers

Keep their population in check, lol. Cows are a domesticated animal now. They don't roam in the wild and copulate as much as we do. We decide that now. We buy or rent a bull and get the job done. They don't date, our 'civilization' has ensured they have little choice in this very personal matter.

You on a personal level will eat for two primary reasons -
i. Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs/Indians revere them.
ii. You like it.

The rest of the justification can be provided for slaughtering human beings en masse too. They are far more responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer, besides other general environmental degradation.

 

[livingdead]

eating cows leads to more cows... lolz
there is one bird which will never go extinct..chicken..

 

[Shamain]

Yes i had many years back read of cows being a part of env pollution for massive carbon dioxide or methane etc emissions. I dont know how true it would be. But Allah has mad natural balance in everything. And made cows a consumable animal.if one wont slaugher them and allow them to overpopulate the natural balance of nature will be toppled. And thats why i do take this reasoning as true. I had read this thing many years back. And honestly now i do understand it.
syed bahii aap doctor ho?

 

[Brahma Bull]

Humans produce the highest amount of greenhouse gases indirectly.Be it industries,vehicles,home appliances etc..
Lets eat humans,and save the planet !
I support genocide !

 

[syedali73]

Yes i had many years back read of cows being a part of env pollution for massive carbon dioxide or methane etc emissions. I dont know how true it would be. But Allah has mad natural balance in everything. And made cows a consumable animal.if one wont slaugher them and allow them to overpopulate the natural balance of nature will be toppled. And thats why i do take this reasoning as true. I had read this thing many years back. And honestly now i do understand it.
syed bahii aap doctor ho?

I am a PhD doctor yes.

 

[Zarvan]

That is not the point! point is to keep their population in check.

The methane makers

By Dan Bell

The man behind one of the most influential reports on climate change, Lord Stern, has highlighted the impact meat production has on greenhouse gas emissions. Part of it comes through methane made by the animals as they digest food. So which farm animals expel the most methane?

View attachment 211930

A diet that relies heavily on meat production results in higher emissions than a typical vegetarian diet, says Lord Stern.

The author of the 2006 Stern Review into the cost of climate change attacked the "enormous pressure" meat production puts on the world's resources and said people were becoming increasingly aware about "low carbon consumption".

He told the BBC that cutting greenhouse gas emissions was important across the board, in areas such as electricity, transport and food.

In a 2006 report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, it said, all the world's cars, trains, planes and boats accounted for a combined 13% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Belching

The greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat consumption has many components, the largest of which is land use change - the clearing of forests for pasture or for the production of soya for animal feed. Other elements that have an impact on emissions include the rearing and slaughter of livestock, and the transport, refrigeration and cooking of meat.

There is also the nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, in the manure of animals reared for meat and the methane, another greenhouse gas, in their flatulence. Molecule for molecule, methane has a much larger warming effect than carbon dioxide.

As the diagram above shows, methane emission is dramatically higher in cows (primarily from belching) than other animals. But cutting back on eating meat is not the simple answer, say scientists.

For a start, many of the cows responsible for producing methane are not reared to be eaten, according to Elaine Matthews, a methane expert at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The breeds favoured in non-western countries are often bred for other uses, such as work, and these non-western cows are far more numerous than the larger dairy varieties reared in North America and Europe.

The larger western cows actually produce more methane per cow than their smaller non-western breeds, but because there are fewer of them, they only account for about 15% of all the methane produced by cows in general.

Meat output 'doubling'

Ms Matthews also says the quantity of methane they produce depends on the quality of food they are given. Cows that eat grain, she says, produce less methane than cows grazing on wild grass.

And methane is not the most important consideration in relation to livestock, says Friends of the Earth - it's the intensity with which they are reared.

According to the environmental pressure group, methane from livestock accounts for about 6% of greenhouse gas emissions, with 6% from CO2 released when forests are cleared for pasture and to produce soy for feeds.

What is clear is that people are eating more meat and dairy products every year.

Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The methane makers

You are smart enough to know Why I wrote that ?

 

[syedali73]

You are smart enough to know Why I wrote that ?

You probably did not notice that I posted the thread in Technology and Science section.

 

[Brahma Bull]

This logic falls flat,when we take "human greenhouse gas footprints" into account.
Nobody says "lets slaughter a cow,because the average temperature has gone up".

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Beef is not done so well in Chinese cuisine. Chicken/Pork/Duck dishes are much better here.

That said I would surely not turn it down either.

 

[Shamain]

You probably did not notice that I posted the thread in Technology and Science section.

oh i had thought medical doc cuz of ur posts ,but that great.
No you have a valid point here. The population staying in check is important.

But ppl will not pick ur point because they dont want to.

 

[Spring Onion]

You on a personal level will eat for two primary reasons -
i. Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs/Indians revere them.
ii. You like it.

By your logic then we also must have been eating monkeys.

And please do not club Sikhs into it they dont have issue with eating cow meat

The rest of the justification can be provided for slaughtering human beings en masse too. They are far more responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer, besides other general environmental degradation.

Human can think and find ways to protect Ozone cows cant so NO you cant apply it on human

 

[Manindra]

Keep their population in check, lol. Cows are a domesticated animal now. They don't roam in the wild and copulate as much as we do. We decide that now. We buy or rent a bull and get the job done. They don't date, our 'civilization' has ensured they have little choice in this very personal matter.

You on a personal level will eat for two primary reasons -
i. Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs/Indians revere them.
ii. You like it.

The rest of the justification can be provided for slaughtering human beings en masse too. They are far more responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer, besides other general environmental degradation.

Due to Cow & Buffalo many our Villages produce BIOGAS