Methane Production in Ruminant Animals: Implication for Their Impact on Climate Change

Mebrate Getabalew¹, Tewodros Alemneh²* and Dawit Akeberegn³

Received: January 03, 2019;   Published: April 04, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/CDVS.2018.02.000142

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Abstract

Agriculture accounts for about 47%-56% of the total anthropogenic methane (CH4) emission. It is known that from the agricultural sector, ruminant livestock (dairy, beef, goats, and sheep) substantially contributes to the increase in CH4 production through continuous natural rumen fermentation process. Methane emission is now the second contributor to global warming, which it has 23 times more influence than that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Many factors affect the amount of ruminant CH4 production, including level of feed intake, type and quality of feeds, energy consumption, animal size, growth rate, level of production, and environmental temperature. Methane also produced from manure of animals depending on the physical form of the faeces, the amount of digestible material, the climate, and the time they remained intact. The major part of methanogenesis in ruminants occurs in the large fermentative chamber, which is rumen. Ruminal digestion of feed by microorganisms, under anaerobic conditions, results in the production of acetate, propionate and butyrate (volatile fatty acids) which are used by the animal as energy source, and production of ruminal gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4, which eliminated through eructation. Therefore, the aim of this review was to summarize the current status of methane production from ruminants and its implication for their impact on climate changes.

Keywords: Emissions; Global Warming; Manure; Methane; Microorganisms; Rumen; Ruminants

Abstract| Introduction| Over View of Methane| Factor that Affect Methane Production| Methods of Methane Measurement| Conclusion| Acknowledgements| References|