Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVIII, Issue 1
Written by Marinela ENCULESCU, Ioana NICOLAE, Dinu GAVOJDIAN
The aim of this paper was to estimate methane emissions resulted from the enteric fermentation of dairy cattle, between 2015 and 2024 in Romania. The number of dairy cattle used in this paper was reported by the National Institute of Statistics, with enteric emissions being estimated using Tier 1 and Tier 2 methodologies provided by the International Panel on Climate Change Guidelines (IPCC, 2006) and expressed as Gg CH4 yr-1 and t CO2-eq. The gross energy intake (GE), digestible energy (DE), and methane conversion factor (Ym) values for Tier 2, were calculated according to national reference values. Total methane emissions estimated for dairy cattle, decreased from 2.972.264 t CO2-eq/year to 2.672.010 t CO2-eq/year for Tier 1 and from 2.745.591 t CO2-eq/year to 2.468.235 t CO2-eq/year for Tier 2, from 2015 to 2024. The decrease in methane emissions was attributed to the decrease of dairy cattle numbers. The results can provide information on the status quo of the dairy industry, when the environmental footprint is concerned, as well as benchmark information in order to develop appropriate future strategies to reduce carbon footprint of the cattle sector.
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