COMPARISON OF EMISSIONS OF COWS AND LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES (car, SUV, minivan, ¼-ton pick-up)

In this article it is shown, the direct emissions of methane and CO2 of the world’s 3.6 billion ruminants is 6.939 billion metric ton of CO2 equivalent per year, and of the world’s 1.0 billion light duty vehicles is 4.830 billion Mt CO2 eq./y; ruminant emissions are about 43.7% greater than LDVs.

 

Additional ruminant related emissions are due to pasturing, feeding, processing, packaging, selling, etc. of meat and dairy products. For example, in the US, the life cycle CO2 eq. emission for some products are as shown below:

http://www.timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-...

 

 

 Kg of CO2 eq./kg

Cheddar

 8.377

Beef

 34.600

Lamb

17.400

Pork

6.350

Chicken

4.570

World CO2 Equivalent Emissions: The EPA and IPCC/UNEP determined the emissions of agriculture, forestry and other land use were 12.648 billion Mt of CO2 eq. in 2014, or about 24% of the world’s manmade CO2 eq. emissions. Biological sources such as cattle, landfills and agriculture account for up to 67 percent of total human-caused methane emissions. See below table and URLs.

 

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data

http://www.ecofys.com/files/files/asn-ecofys-2013-world-ghg-emissio...

http://oceanacidification.msi.ucsb.edu/resources/image-gallery/data...

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/oil-gas-cows-culprits-in-methane...

http://uneplive.unep.org/media/docs/theme/13/EGR_2015_ES_English_Em...

 

CO2-eq Emissions in 2014

%

Billion Mt CO2 eq.

Electricity and Heat

25

13.175

Agriculture, Forestry, Other land use

24

12.648

Industry

21

11.067

Transportation

14

7.378

Buildings

6

3.162

Other energy

10

5.270

World CO2 in 2014, per UNEP

100

52.700

World Population: Some biologists/ecologists, such as E.O. Wilson, have been warming us for decades, but we are too busy to be listening. The above comparison of LDV to ruminant emissions is a consequence of the world’s population being in out-of-control growth mode for at least 200 years. That growth and the abundant availability of fossil fuels since 1800, have greatly increased electricity and heat generation, agriculture, industry, transportation, etc., which in turn increased the world’s CO2 equivalent emissions.

 

E.O. Wilson: “Half for Nature”

https://nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/sp15/eo-wilson-on-saving-...

 

Since 1800, CO2 and methane emissions have increased from:

 

- The human population and its support systems. See below table.

- Domestic animals; cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, pets, etc.

- Rats, cockroaches, potato blight funguses, etc., which depend for their existence on mankind and its support systems.

 

There is no solution to this trend, except to very significantly reduce the world’s population and have the remaining people reduce their energy consumption per capita by at least 4 times (the level of 1800) and consumption of other resources per capita by at least 15 times (the level of 1800). This should not significantly affect living standards, because, at present, energy and other resources are used much more efficiently than in 1800.

 

Those measures would enable maintaining 50% - 80% of the world in pristine condition, so the world’s fauna and flora could re-establish itself to a semblance of its former glory. The present, locust-type devouring of the world by humans, their animals and other support systems, is a major aberration, and clearly should not continue. Europe and Japan have near zero population growth. They could have steady negative growth without much effort. The rest of the world should follow that example, and it should have been part of the Paris accords to get China, India, etc., on board. Here is a US Army bison skull pile, due to Army kills and bounty hunter kills. Looks like a holocaust to me. See below table.

 

http://www.snopes.com/pile-bison-bones-photo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

 

8000 BC

0.005 billion

4000 BC

0.007 billion

2000 BC

0.027 billion

1

0.200 billion

1000

0.400 billion

1800

 1.000 billion

1900

 1.650 billion

2000

 6.127 billion

2015

 7.349 billion

2050

 9.725 billion

Population of the New World: Most scholars writing at the end of the 19th century estimated that the pre-Columbian population was as low as 10 million; by the end of the 20th century most scholars gravitated to a middle estimate of around 50 million, with some historians arguing for an estimate of 100 million or more. That number is for the entire New World before 1492.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_indigenous_peop...

 

Land

 Population

Mexico, etc.

 37 million

Brazil

 11 million

Inca

 12 million

US

4 million

Canada

0.5 million

Total

64.5 million

 

New England, The US and Canada: Below are the sizes of 6 tribes in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Their population totaled about 100,000 people in 1600. The rest of NE likely had about the same number, or about 200,000/72,000 = 3 people/sq. mi. For thousands of years, people lived in villages, surrounded by some cleared lands, connected with paths through the woods, and engaged in agriculture, hunting and fishing.

 

Multiply the below 6 tribes New England times 40 and you get 240 tribes with a population of about 3 to 4 million in what is now the US. Canada likely had about 500,000. The below URLs have information on the history of 240 tribes on what is now the US.

 

Wampamoag; 20,000 

http://tolatsga.org/wampa.html

Abenaki: 40,000

http://www.tolatsga.org/aben.html

Mahican: 35,000

http://www.dickshovel.com/Mahican.html

Massachusetts: 3000

http://www.dickshovel.com/massa.html

Narragansatt: 10,000

http://www.dickshovel.com/Narra.html

Nipmuck: 3,000 - 10,000

http://www.dickshovel.com/nipmuc.html

World Wild Area Destruction: Here is a recent article regarding the destruction of the world's wild areas.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/we-ve-destroyed-one-tenth-ea...

 

Click on the dark blue in the first paragraph of the above article to obtain the full text in below URL.

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30993-9

 

“By 2009, about 23% of Earth’s land remained as wilderness—about 30.1 million square kilometers spread mostly across North America, North Asia, North Africa, and Australia, they conclude today in Current Biology. That’s 3.3 million square kilometers less than in 1993, an area about twice the size of Alaska—Watson says. 

 

South America has lost almost 30% of its wilderness in that time and Africa has lost 14%. The losses included the total devastation of several large swaths of forest and swamp in the Congo and in New Guinea.”

 

Very significant population reduction, much less consumption, and setting aside 50% - 80% of the world as pristine areas is required to preserve and protect the remaining fauna and flora. That should have a much greater priority than RE systems, such as wind turbine and solar panel build-outs, etc. By the time all those RE systems would be built, the world’s wild areas would be gone, and there would be 10 billion people.

 

Analysis of CO2 emissions of LDVs and Ruminants*: Below are the details of comparing the emissions of the world’s LDVs and the world’s ruminants due to breathing (CO2), belching (CO2 and CH4).

 

*The emissions of farting, a small percentage of CO2 and CH4 emissions, and of feces, which produce CO2 and CH4, due to decomposition, and of urine, which produces CH3, are excluded. A very small percentage of the world’s ruminant feces are collected and treated by anaerobic digester systems to produce CH4 for heat and electricity generation; the CO2 is vented to the atmosphere.

 

LDV Emissions:

 

One LDV emits about 10,647 lb, or about 4.830 metric ton of CO2/y, based on CO2 emission/gal = 19.4 lb, combustion + 5 lb upstream = 24.4 lb; travel = 12,000 miles/y, assumption; MPG = 27.5, assumption. The world has about 1 billion LDVs.

 

World LDV emission is about 1.0 billion x 4.830 = 4.830 billion Mt of CO2/y   

 

Ruminant CO2 and Methane (CH4) Emissions:

 

The world has about 1.5 billion cattle (dairy and beef cows, buffalo, etc.), 2.1 billion sheep and goats, 1.0 billion pigs, and 21 billion chickens.

 

One dairy cow emits about 6000 liter CO2/d and 600 liter CH4/d, about 2 times a beef cow, about 14 times a sheep, about 22 times a goat, about 74 times a pig. Assumption for calculations:

 

- 3000 liter CO2/cow/d, 300 liter CH4/cow/d

- 333 liter CO2/sheep or goat/d, 33 liter CH4/sheep or goat/d

 

http://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(95)76907-7/pdf

https://muchadoaboutclimate.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-much-metha...

 

One cow emits about 2.150 Mt of CO2/y, based on 3000 liter CO2/d, and 1.9631 g CO2/l. 

One cow emits about 1.854 Mt of CO2 eq./y, based on 300 liter CH4/d; 1 cubic meter CH4 = 0.01693 Mt CO2 eq.

World cow emission is about 1.5 billion x (2.150 + 1.854) = 6.005 billion Mt CO2 eq./y

 

One goat or sheep emits about 0.239 Mt of CO2/y, based on 333 liter CO2/d, and 1.9631 g CO2/l.

One goat or sheep emits about 0.206 Mt of CO2 eq./y, based on 33 liter CH4/d; 1 cubic meter CH4 = 0.01693 Mt CO2 eq.

World goat and sheep emission is about 2.1 billion x (0.239 + 0.206) = 0.934 billion Mt CO2 eq./y 

 

World ruminant emission is about 6.005 + 0.934 = 6.939 billion Mt of CO2 eq./y, or about 6.939/12,648 = 54.8% of agriculture, forestry, and other land use CO2 eq. emissions.

 

 

Mt CO2 eq./y

Billion Mt CO2 eq./y

One LDV

4.830

 

World LDVs

 

4.830

 

 

 

One Cow

 4.004

 

World cows

 

6.005

One Goat or sheep

0.445

 

World goats and sheep

 

0.934

World ruminants

 

6.939

 

Additional ruminant-related emissions are due to pasturing, feeding, processing, packaging, selling, etc. of meat and dairy products. For example, in the US, the life cycle CO2 eq. emission is about 8.377 kg per one kg of cheddar cheese, equivalent to traveling 9.44 miles at 27.5 miles per gallon. See Note.

http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/pdf/CF-Cheese.pdf

 

NOTE: However, that mileage comparison is a fallacy, because:

 

The “wheel-to-wheel” efficiency of ICEVs is about 16.0%, and of EVs about 69.9%

The “well-to-wheel” efficiency of ICEVs is about 14.3%, and of EVs about 29.2%

 

The above efficiencies are only for consumed energy, not embedded energy.

https://matter2energy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/wells-to-wheels-elec...

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/comparison-of-energy-ef...

 

NOTE: The world's 1.5 billion cows and 2.1 billion sheep, goats, etc., emit various gases, including methane, CH4, a greenhouse gas about 25 times more potent than CO2. Two-thirds of all ammonia, NH3, is emitted by cows. World ruminants eat about 50% of world’s food crops. See COWSPIRACY movie on Netflix.

 

NOTE: Some experts say 100 - 200 liters of methane/cow/d (or about 26 - 53 gallons), others say it's up to 500 liters (about 132 gallons)/cow/d.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/methane-cow.htm

 

Converting a cubic meter of CH4 to a metric ton of CO2 eq.:  1 cubic meter CH4 x (35.31466 cf CH4 / 1 cubic meter CH4) x (1 lb-mole / 379.48 cf) x (16.0426 lb. CH4 / 1 lb-mole) x (1 metric ton / 2,204.62 lb.) x (25 CO2 eq. / 1 CH4) = 0.01693 metric ton CO2 eq.

 

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/methane-cow.htm

https://www3.epa.gov/gasstar/tools/calculations.html

 

NOTE: The proposed 28 turbine, 96.6 MW, $250 million, Windham/Grafton wind turbine power plant in Vermont would produce about 280,000 MWh/y, which would reduce CO2 emissions by about 92,104 Mt/y, based on 0.3296 Mt of CO2/MWh on the New England grid. The CO2 reduction is:

 

- Equivalent to the exhaust of about 92,104/4.830 = 19,069 LDVs.

- Equivalent to the emission of about 92,104/4.004 = 23,003 cows.

 

It would take (4.830 + 6.005) x 10^9 Mt CO2 eq./y x 1 MW / 1321 Mt CO2/y = 8,204,758 MW of wind turbines to offset the world’s (LDV + cow) CO2 eq. emissions. Capital cost = $20.512 trillion, at 2.5 million/MW, excluding at least 20% for grid build-out, storage, and balancing generator costs. To put that in perspective, the US has about 75,000 MW of wind turbines.

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Comment by Eskutassis on June 13, 2017 at 2:53pm

All this talk about cow farts has my head spinning. I'm glad I'm not the one out there doing the measurements. I spent enough time as a kid on my Uncle's dairy farm shoveling . . . .  well you know.

The one thing that gets me riled up though, is that these morons are talking about having to return the usage of fossil fuels to the levels we used in 1800. Are we supposed to return to living like our ancestors did when there was no power, power that has made the world as we know it today? These people are lunatics with an agenda. That is to practice eugenics, restore land to historic use, reduce the size of cities and to reduce transportation to electric vehicles, of course that are propelled by power produced by fossil fuels.

This is insanity, and the snowflakes of today would not know how to live in a wilderness environment. That is what they are calling for as they will not be able to depend on "renewables" for all their power needs. We still have to feed our 7+ Billion citizens of the world and that is going to require some cow farts and pig farts. 

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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