So this is the first time I heard this but I ran across this article about cows and other farm animals being part of the problem with global warming because of how much methane gas they produce. Anyone else hear about this? Check out the article and let me know what you think.

Its located here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/747883/are_cow...l_warming.html?cat=2

I saw a program on this subject and they said the cows solid waste were being used to produce energy and they are thinking of ways to reduce gas passed by the cows by adjusting their feed. The problem is the expense to build the plant to process the methane for energy. Only a very few of the dairy farms can afford them. Farmers are getting money for not planting crops when the money needs to go to these kinds of energy programs.

That idea has been around at least for several years that I know of. From what I have read a high meat content diet is not very efficient as far as using resources. I guess this has to do more with the fact that when you have so many people eating meat the effect of every individual adds up.

I 1st heard about this years ago and cows and cattle do produce alot of methane gass and due to our love afair with beef there's a whole lot of cows out there.

Here is an article

Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars

Environment Editor
Sunday, 10 December 2006


Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.


A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.

Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causes of acid rain.

Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk.

Wastes from feedlots and fertilisers used to grow their feed overnourish water, causing weeds to choke all other life. And the pesticides, antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get into drinking water and endanger human health.

The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs and creating "dead zones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000sqkm, in the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the waste from US beef production is carried down the Mississippi.

The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made, the massive damage done by livestock will more than double by 2050, as demand for meat increases.

Interesting? Click here to explore further

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rachel_G,

I think I saw the same show as Diane, it was about a power plant in India that produced the town's electrical power with cow manure. Here in North Carolina they are getting ready to build a power plant that will run on poultry waste, as we have a large poultry producing region "down east".

Many landfills now have systems to capture the methane and use it to power electrical generators. A friend that works for Progress Energy told me about a system they have that burns sewage sludge to produce electricity, they use natural gas to get it started but once it is going it can run on just sludge.

There are a lot of solutions coming together and we will find a way to continue to power out lives because with the exception of a few radical environmental nut cases people are not willing to freeze in the dark to save the planet.

As the price of gas rises formally expensive technology becomes more price competitive and begins to make economic sense. The knee jerk solution of ethanol isn't one of them today.

Well yes, we will not be able to power our lives at the current level but we already have all the technology we need to provide us with good, sustainable, environmentally friendly lives.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris Stewart2,

Maybe those cows could use some Beano.... ...really though, with four stomachs to process food what else can the poor things do?

Will chalk that up to one environmental problem out of my hands....

One of Mike Rowe's dirty jobs took him to a dairy farm in Conn. when the man heated his home on cow methane.
Many of you have no doubt seen this episode of Dirty Jobs; the farmer makes the Poo-Pots that I have seen in some nursery areas for 75¢.
And, yes, I've heard about animal methane for many years.

I was a beef producer for 25 years before I switched careers going from feeding cows to feeding people.

I read the article that Rachel posted and I just shake my head. Maybe in other parts of the world, but the good ol' USA does not have "rapidly growing herds of cattle". In fact as more strip malls and subdivisions go up, there is less and less land available for crops or livestock. I don't have current figures, but I'll bet cattle numbers in the US have been declining steadily.

quote:

Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk

There is no profit in overgrazing. Maybe overseas overgrazing is turning pastures into desert, not here. Don't know how liters convert to gallons, but I do know a dairy cow will drink roughly 40 gallons of water a day and produce FAR more than one liter of milk!!! Beef cows get by on quite a bit less water than that.

Someone mentioned methane from landfills. I red in the newspaper just the other day where they're doing this somewhere in our state. I wonder how many years it will be before we start mining landfills?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gardengirl9,

Thank you gardengirl. It's so good to learn from someone who really knows.
And it just goes to show that you can never really trust the "facts" in everything you read, and how very important it is to know your source of information.

Chserwood ~ I just returned from a weeks stay in my home town in Central West, TX. (Pop 3,000.) There are a lot of farmers in the outling area. Not all of them have cows, but a majority of them do. They know of the problem. Ag.Department, and their chemist also know of the problem. Someone else will probably post the progress, or lack of, they have made. I do not know.

Great website. There is also an interesting article about Cheryl Crow on the second page.

KJH


Progress not perfection