Grazing cows emit less environmentally harmful nitrous oxide than previously thought. Researchers from Agroscope discovered this in a study on a meadow in the canton of Thurgau.
Agriculture is responsible for about two-thirds of nitrous oxide emissions in Switzerland, Agroscope wrote on Wednesday. However, the climate-warming effect of nitrous oxide is approximately 265 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Only 5 percent of laughing gas comes from cows
Only about five percent of nitrogen oxide emissions from agriculture come from grazing cows. That is considerably less than previously calculated or estimated, says Christof Ammann, team leader “Emissions” at Agroscope, in a video clip recorded on the research meadow in the canton of Thurgau.
The field trial at Tänikon TG has been running for two years. According to Ammann, various devices are used to measure the concentration of nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases in the air and on the ground. The emission is calculated from this. Cameras are used to monitor how many cows are in the measuring sector.
How much nitrous oxide is actually excreted by grazing cows depends on the local conditions, namely the soil and the humidity. Emissions were lower in dry years than in wet years. The new guideline values must now be included in emission inventories – for example in the greenhouse gas inventory of the Federal Environment Agency.
(SDA)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
