Translated material
Greenhouse cows
Animal farming has proven too harmful to humanity
Ministers of the environment from 187 countries who gathered last week in Poznan, discussing issues of combating global warming, decided to pay special attention... to agriculture.Agriculture and transport are recognized as the main culprits of atmospheric pollution with greenhouse gases. Moreover, livestock farming accounts for 18% of all harmful emissions. Cows and pigs, the UN says, are more to blame for global warming than cars, buses and planes combined. However, unlike other types of industry, where the fight against harmful emissions has long been carried out, increased attention to agriculture began to be paid not so long ago. To date, out of more than 2 thousand research projects to combat emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, patronized by the UN, only 98 are in agriculture.
Meanwhile, during the life of farm animals, gases that are dangerous from the point of view of the greenhouse effect enter the atmosphere - about 9% (of total emissions) of carbon dioxide, up to 40% of methane and 65% of nitrogen dioxide. For example, methane retains 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide. And nitrogen dioxide is even greater.
And, if you look at it, processing and cooking meat requires a large amount of energy, which leads to emissions of harmful substances into the air. The production of 1 kg of beef produces 11 times more air pollution than the production of chicken meat and 100 times more than, for example, the production of carrots, according to a study conducted by the largest Swedish agricultural producer, Lantmannen. From January 1, in Sweden, information will appear on products that will allow you to find out how much less harmful emissions there will be if, for example, poultry is preferred to pork or beef.
In large developing countries: China, India and Brazil, meat consumption has increased by 33% over the past decade. Global meat consumption will double by 2050. Accordingly, if nothing is done, the amount of harmful emissions will grow rapidly.
In the meantime, it is impossible to find a replacement for meat and feed on carrots alone. Meat occupies a very important place in the human diet. All that remains is to find an effective way to combat the harmful effects of livestock farming on the environment. As usual, there are a great variety of ways to deal with the problem. Some, for example, believe that cows should be fed feeds that cause their bodies to produce less methane. Or, using the achievements of genetic engineering, to develop an environmentally friendly breed of animals.
Others offer a very simple solution to the problem - eat less meat. However, all calls to consume less red meat are met with resistance from livestock farmers and their lobby, who argue that emissions statistics are greatly inflated.
Data on the share of emissions from agriculture in total emissions vary widely across countries. In large agricultural and meat-producing countries, such as Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, it goes beyond 50%. But in the United States, according to data from the Environmental Conservation Agency, in 2006 it was only 7.4%, but only because in other areas the Americans (along with the PRC) are ahead of the rest in terms of emissions.
Environmentally conscious countries such as Holland, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand have already begun to combat the problem.
In Denmark, for example, the law requires farmers to bury manure in the ground rather than spread it on the surface or dump it in holes. This not only reduces unpleasant odors, but also better fertilizes the soil and prevents harmful emissions.
A number of states are proposing to include agricultural emissions in the system of carbon trading quotas, which currently operates mainly in heavy industry. Farms that produce more emissions than allowed will have to buy air pollution credits from their green counterparts.
New Zealand aims to include agriculture in the new system by 2013, but in the meantime is spending tens of millions of dollars on research and projects such as breeding organic cows and growing feed that would make them produce less methane.
In the United States, the Environmental Conservation Agency is planning to introduce a special tax to combat air pollution. Farmers with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cows or 200 pigs will have to pay $175 and $87.50 per cow, respectively, and $20 per pig per year. On such farms, agency officials say, the emission of carbon compounds exceeds the maximum permissible norm of federal clean air standards.
Economists have calculated that the innovation will cost owners of medium-sized farms 30-40 thousand dollars a year. The farmers themselves are confident that the new tax will ruin them.
An interesting experiment is currently taking place in the south of the Netherlands, in the town of Sterksel. Waste from the pig farm is mixed with food waste from local businesses. They are then pumped into heated tanks, where bacteria called methanogens convert the mass into methane. The resulting gas, when burned, produces heat and electricity. 25% of the electricity is used on the farm itself, and the rest is sold to the local power grid. Mineral sludge is an ideal fertilizer and can significantly reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, the production of which releases even greater amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.