With the current state of the world economy, the Australia government sees it as a priority that they take the average Aussie’s taxes and spend them reducing the amount of methane animals down under emit. In layman’s word’s this is the Australian version of the War on Farts:
Methane gas from livestock flatulence accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said as he launched the 26.8 million dollar (17.4 million US dollar) project.
The emissions from 120 million sheep, cows and goats comprise the country’s third-largest source of gases blamed for climate change, he said in a statement received Thursday.
A beef cow expells the equivalent of around 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds) of carbon per year, the statement said. Most carbon pollution is produced by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
We are talking about spending nearly $30 million dollars that the government took out of the taxpayers pocket, and spending it on:
- changing diets
- chemical and biological controls of stomach bacteria to reduce methane production
- genetic approaches such as selective breeding
So how much will it take to change the diet of cows, sheep and goats? Grass seems to be pretty cheap, so anything else is going to increase the cost to the farmer, therefore raising the cost for the consumer. As will feeding the animals some chemical or biological version of Gas-X.
How would you like to be the person who has to measure which goat farts the most? I don’t know which is more offensive: that visual or the fact taxpayers are actually paying for it.
I’m just glad this is still just an Australia thing, otherwise, I might be a bit irritated. Just kidding, we’re into it too:
Globally, livestock are the largest source of methane from human-related activities – and in the U.S., the third largest source. Livestock production can also result in emissions of nitrous oxide, a very potent greenhouse gas, and carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production through management strategies that improve production efficiency and result in lower emissions per unit of milk or meat produced.
To find out more about livestock emissions and how the adoption of improved livestock production practices can help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, check out the following sites:
Frequent Questions. Questions and answers about how methane is produced from livestock and what measures can be done to reduce these emissions.
Resources and Tools. Information and models to measure and evaluate livestock production impacts on methane emissions.
Meanwhile, water vapor is going unregulated:
In order, Earth’s most abundant greenhouse gases are:
* water vapor
* carbon dioxide
* methane
* nitrous oxide
* ozone
* CFCsWhen these gases are ranked by their contribution to the greenhouse effect, the most important are:
* water vapor, which contributes 36–70%
* carbon dioxide, which contributes 9–26%
* methane, which contributes 4–9%
* ozone, which contributes 3–7%
And, the Earth is actually getting cooler:
According to the National Climate Data Center, the earth is cooling. The earth has been cooling since 1998, when the warming trend peaked in conjunction with heightened sunspot activity. In fact, 2008 may go down as the coldest year in a decade.
The lunatics are running the asylum, and you and I are footing the monthly payments for treatment.
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