Researchers work to reduce emissions in dairy industry

As China's appetite for milk continues to grow, a team of scientists has embarked on a mission in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to create lowmethane-emitting dairy cows.

- YUAN HUI and HOU LIQIANG

The project, established last year by Sk-xing, a cow breeding company in China, aims to identify genes that contribute to high milk production, longevity and low emissions of methane, said the company, whose headquarters is in Hohhot, the regional capital.

Methane, the second-most abundant global man-made greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, has more than 80 times the warming power of CO2 over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.

The gas is responsible for about 30 percent of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, the International Energy Agency says.

An estimated 60 percent of the world's methane emissions are from human activity, with agriculture, fossil fuel extraction and consumption, and decomposition of landfill waste the largest sources. Agriculture, including animal husbandry, is responsible for 40 percent of human-made methane emissions.

A scientist with the company.

Li Xihe, shed light on the intricate research involved in achieving the mission's goal of decarbonizing the dairy cow sector.

The journey begins with measuring the methane emissions of individual cows using a special device resembling a feeding trough, he said.