Abstract

This review aims to elucidate the contemporary methods of measuring and estimating methane (CH₄) emissions from ruminants. Six categories of methods for measuring and estimating CH₄ emissions from ruminants are discussed. The widely used methods in most CH₄ abatement experiments comprise the gold standard respiration chamber, in vitro incubation, and the sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) techniques. In the spot sampling methods, the paper discusses the sniffer method, the GreenFeed system, the face mask method, and the portable accumulation chamber. The spot sampling relies on the measurement of short-term breath data adequately on spot. The mathematical modeling methods focus on predicting CH₄ emissions from ruminants without undertaking extensive and costly experiments. For instance, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides default values for regional emission factors and other parameters using three levels of estimation (Tier 1, 2 and 3 levels), with Tier 1 and Tier 3 being the simplest and most complex methods, respectively. The laser technologies include the open-path laser technique and the laser CH₄ detector. They use the laser CH₄ detector and wireless sensor networks to measure CH₄ flux. The micrometeorological methods rely on measurements of meteorological data in line with CH₄ concentration. The last category of methods for measuring and estimating CH₄ emissions in this paper is the emerging technologies. They include the blood CH₄ concentration tracer, infrared thermography, intraruminal telemetry, the eddy covariance (EC) technique, carbon dioxide as a tracer gas, and polytunnel. The emerging technologies are essential for the future development of effective quantification of CH₄ emissions from ruminants. In general, adequate knowledge of CH₄ emission measurement methods is important for planning, implementing, interpreting, and comparing experimental results.

Keywords

ruminant; emission; measurement; enteric methane

Published in

Methane
2022, Volume: 1, number: 2, pages: 82-95

SLU Authors

• Ramin, Mohammad

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bekele, Wondimagegne

  • Addis Ababa University
  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Guinguina, Abdulai

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences
Climate Research
Animal and Dairy Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/methane1020008

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121266