The Ministry of Environment of the Asia-Pacific Green Energy Trading Center (APGETC) learned that on October 8, 2022 New Zealand time, the New Zealand government released a draft plan in the evening. Agricultural emissions, so-called belching gases from cattle and sheep, will be priced to address one of the country’s largest sources of greenhouse gases.
The draft was developed jointly by the government and farm community representatives. Farmers will have to pay for their gas emissions from 2025. Compared with the draft itself, people may be more concerned about how to price and implement it. Short-term and long-term farm gas will be priced separately, but a single metering method will be used to calculate the volume, the report said.
With the introduction of this draft, farmers in New Zealand may have a headache in the future, because they may have to pay for the hiccups of their cattle and sheep.
The Asia-Pacific Green Energy Trading Center also learned that New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 will be 78.8 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, mainly including 44% carbon dioxide and 44% methane. Among them, the country’s agricultural sector and energy sector are the two main sources of total greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 50% and 40%, respectively.
Although New Zealand’s population is only about 5 million, it has nearly 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Roughly speaking, the total number of cattle and sheep is nearly 7 times its population. In the face of such a huge number, the gas emitted by the belching of cattle and sheep has become the “culprit” that hinders New Zealand from achieving its carbon neutral goal.
Nearly half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane, which has been exempted from New Zealand’s carbon emissions trading scheme, which has also led to criticism of the government’s “stop global warming” pledge.
New Zealand’s environment ministry said the proposal would make New Zealand, a major agricultural exporter, the first country to make farmers pay for livestock emissions, with plans due to be finalized in December 2022. In addition, the content of the draft plan also includes that feed additives should be used to reduce emissions and encourage the development of farm forestry to offset emissions. Proceeds from the program will be used for research, development and consulting services in the agricultural sector, among others.
Ruminants such as cows, buffaloes, goats, and sheep all burp methane, according to an article by the Asia Pacific Green Energy Exchange. Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, may have a warming effect 25 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year time span.
In addition, a research conducted by the Asia Pacific Green Energy Trading Center found that every day a cow burps and farts, it will release 300-500 liters of methane gas. 90% to 95% of this is excreted through the mouth of the cow, while the other 5% to 10% is released in the form of feces and farts.
Based on the above data, the Asia-Pacific Green Energy Trading Center makes the following predictions:
1.In the next 3-5 years, the global animal husbandry industry will be included in the environmental protection tax ranks of various countries;
- In the next 5-10 years, each family will be allocated carbon quotas in proportion, strictly in accordance with the quota standards, and will be implemented in accordance with the national carbon emission trading system if it exceeds;
Carbon neutrality has gradually changed from a global and international advocacy act to a mandatory act. Everyone should contribute to global energy conservation and emission reduction. To reduce the pressure on the earth we depend on, create a green and beautiful life together, and return the earth to a beautiful blue sky.
