Measuring CH4 and CO2 Concentrations in Cow Breath for Estimating Total Methane Emissions

User Benefits

- The transportable gas analyzer can be placed near a feed trough and continuously measure the concentrations of CH4 and CO2 in the breath of cows. - The gas analyzer is simple to operate with an onboard sample pretreatment unit that includes a built-in sample pump, filter, and moisture removal system. - The analyzer can save data on a USB flash drive to facilitate data manipulation on a computer or sharing data between groups.

Introduction

The greenhouse effect of methane (CH₄) is approximately 28 times that of carbon dioxide (CO₂) . Cow belching is a significant source of CH₄ emissions and releases enteric CH₄ generated by fermentation in the cow’s digestive system. Enteric CH₄ released through cow exhalation or eructation accounts for a significant proportion of the greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, and concerted efforts are underway to reduce these emissions through feed development, changes in living conditions, and selective breeding. The standard method for measuring enteric CH₄ emissions from cows is to place the animal in a large, specially designed chamber for several days and measure the total enteric CH₄ emitted over that time. While this method provides extremely accurate measurements, equipment and labor requirements make it unsuitable for measuring CH4 emissions from large numbers of animals. In 2022, Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) published a manual that describes a method of estimating CH₄ emissions based on the ratio of CH₄ to CO₂ (CH₄/CO₂) measured in the breath of cows). This method has attracted interest for its relative practicality as it does not require large-scale, dedicated facilities and can be used for single, short-term measurements and to collect data from multiple animals.

July 24, 2024 GMT