India battles to cut greenhouse gases from cattle

Global warming is normally associated with the gases coming out of cars and factories, but it seems India's contribution to heating the planet is mostly four-legged and sacred.
Local scientists are now trying to make the country's cows eat better and emit less gas.


Each cow emits 200 kilograms of methane into the atmosphere, every day.


That may not sound like much, but put hundreds of millions of them together, and you have a monumental problem. Consequently, India's livestock contributes more to global warming than the country's cars and factories put together.




At the National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal, 160 km from the capital New Delhi, Dr. Singhal explains that, despite the threat of global warming, livestock are the backbone of India's rural economy and cannot be simply wished away.


“Whatever [an] animal consumes is fermented inside their stomachs and methane is being produced, and that is emitted into the environment. So it is a problem,” Dr. Singhal says.


Unlike its robust counterparts in Western countries, the majority of India's livestock is underfed and undernourished, and given poor-quality feed. This means higher amounts of methane being emitted.


So scientists are working on ways to improve their diets, and cause them to emit smaller amounts of the gas.


The typical Indian farmer is unable to buy expensive dietary supplements created in the West. So the emphasis here is on finding indigenous solutions, for example herbal additives that contain the chemical saponin. These are cheaper and reduce methane emission by 20%. The institute believes it could have a marketable product within three years.


“Methane emissions are going to play a more important role in global warming than carbon dioxide in this century. This is absolutely true, because the rate at which methane is increasing, is 6 to 7 times higher than carbon dioxide… The projects which we are planning, if we succeed in them, then certainly we will be a leader in solving the problem of global warming related to the livestock sector,” Dr. Anil Kumar Srivastava, head of the National Dairy Research Institute says.


This is where a key battle against global warming will be fought. India is hoping to set the pace when it comes to research against methane emissions. By that, it hopes to change what is a disadvantage – in terms of number of livestock – into an advantage.