IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i24p17017-d1007817.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of Methodologies Used to Estimate Enteric Methane Emissions and Warming Impact from 1920 to 2020 for U.S. Beef Production

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Gilreath

    (Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Tryon Wickersham

    (Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Jason Sawyer

    (East Foundation, 200 Concord Plaza Dr., #410, San Antonio, TX 78216, USA)

Abstract

Estimates of historical enteric methane emissions by US beef cattle using various methodologies recommended by IPCC were compared, then translated using two expressions of carbon dioxide equivalence. Three existing methodologies (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 as used by FAO, EPA, and NASEM, respectively) were compared using a common time series (1920 to 2020) for each sector of the US beef cattle production system. Annual enteric methane emissions were converted to annual CO 2 equivalents for global warming potential on a 100-year horizon (GWP 100 ) and CO 2 warming equivalents (GWP*) to compare two expressions of methane equivalence to carbon dioxide. While the ranking of estimates among methods was stable, the magnitude of difference between the methods increased over time. In 1920, the Tier 3 method estimated emissions 16% greater than Tier 1; this difference increased to 60% greater in 2020. Cumulative GWP* ranged from 8.9% below to 29.4% below cumulative GWP 100 in 2020, depending upon method; differences in annual emissions metrics were larger, with GWP* metrics ranging from 261% below to 123% above GWP 100 expression. While several methods exist to generate emissions inventories, method choice results in substantial differences in direct emissions estimates and carbon dioxide equivalence.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Gilreath & Tryon Wickersham & Jason Sawyer, 2022. "Comparison of Methodologies Used to Estimate Enteric Methane Emissions and Warming Impact from 1920 to 2020 for U.S. Beef Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:17017-:d:1007817
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/17017/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/17017/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beauchemin, Karen A. & Henry Janzen, H. & Little, Shannan M. & McAllister, Tim A. & McGinn, Sean M., 2010. "Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production in western Canada: A case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(6), pages 371-379, July.
    2. Raymond L. Desjardins & Devon E. Worth & Xavier P. C. Vergé & Dominique Maxime & Jim Dyer & Darrel Cerkowniak, 2012. "Carbon Footprint of Beef Cattle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(12), pages 1-23, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stanley, Paige L. & Rowntree, Jason E. & Beede, David K. & DeLonge, Marcia S. & Hamm, Michael W., 2018. "Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 249-258.
    2. Pogue, Sarah J. & Kröbel, Roland & Janzen, H. Henry & Alemu, Aklilu W. & Beauchemin, Karen A. & Little, Shannan & Iravani, Majid & de Souza, Danielle Maia & McAllister, Tim A., 2020. "A social-ecological systems approach for the assessment of ecosystem services from beef production in the Canadian prairie," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    3. Shen Wang & Guohe Huang & Yurui Fan, 2018. "A Multistage Distribution-Generation Planning Model for Clean Power Generation under Multiple Uncertainties—A Case Study of Urumqi, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-30, September.
    4. White, Robin R. & Brady, Michael & Capper, Judith L. & Johnson, Kristen A., 2014. "Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1-12.
    5. Raymond L. Desjardins & Devon E. Worth & Xavier P. C. Vergé & Dominique Maxime & Jim Dyer & Darrel Cerkowniak, 2012. "Carbon Footprint of Beef Cattle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(12), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Dakpo, K Hervé & Lansink, Alfons Oude, 2019. "Dynamic pollution-adjusted inefficiency under the by-production of bad outputs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(1), pages 202-211.
    7. María I. Nieto & Olivia Barrantes & Liliana Privitello & Ramón Reiné, 2018. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Beef Grazing Systems in Semi-Arid Rangelands of Central Argentina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Dyer, James A & Verge, Xavier P. C. & Desjardins, Raymond L. & Worth, Devon E., 2014. "A Comparison of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions From the Sheep Industry With Beef Production in Canada," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 3(3).
    9. Alemu, Aklilu W. & Amiro, Brian D. & Bittman, Shabtai & MacDonald, Douglas & Ominski, Kim H., 2017. "Greenhouse gas emission of Canadian cow-calf operations: A whole-farm assessment of 295 farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 73-83.
    10. Tianyi Cai & Degang Yang & Xinhuan Zhang & Fuqiang Xia & Rongwei Wu, 2018. "Study on the Vertical Linkage of Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity Change of the Animal Husbandry Sector between China and Its Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Rasadhika Sharma & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2018. "Changing Consumption Patterns—Drivers and the Environmental Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.
    12. Alemu, Aklilu W. & Janzen, Henry & Little, Shannan & Hao, Xiying & Thompson, Donald J. & Baron, Vern & Iwaasa, Alan & Beauchemin, Karen A. & Kröbel, Roland, 2017. "Assessment of grazing management on farm greenhouse gas intensity of beef production systems in the Canadian Prairies using life cycle assessment," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 1-13.
    13. Boaitey, Albert & Goddard, Ellen & Mohapatra, Sandeep, 2019. "Environmentally friendly breeding, spatial heterogeneity and effective carbon offset design in beef cattle," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 35-45.
    14. Forte, Annachiara & Zucaro, Amalia & De Vico, Gionata & Fierro, Angelo, 2016. "Carbon footprint of heliciculture: A case study from an Italian experimental farm," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 99-111.
    15. Hünerberg, Martin & Little, Shannan M. & Beauchemin, Karen A. & McGinn, Sean M. & O’Connor, Don & Okine, Erasmus K. & Harstad, Odd M. & Kröbel, Roland & McAllister, Tim A., 2014. "Feeding high concentrations of corn dried distillers’ grains decreases methane, but increases nitrous oxide emissions from beef cattle production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 19-27.
    16. Tanure, Soraya & Nabinger, Carlos & Becker, João Luiz, 2013. "Bioeconomic model of decision support system for farm management. Part I: Systemic conceptual modeling," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 104-116.
    17. Pashaei Kamali, Farahnaz & van der Linden, Aart & Meuwissen, Miranda P.M. & Malafaia, Guilherme Cunha & Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M. & de Boer, Imke J.M., 2016. "Environmental and economic performance of beef farming systems with different feeding strategies in southern Brazil," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 70-79.
    18. Singh, Akshit & Mishra, Nishikant & Ali, Syed Imran & Shukla, Nagesh & Shankar, Ravi, 2015. "Cloud computing technology: Reducing carbon footprint in beef supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 462-471.
    19. Elina Lehikoinen & Tuure Parviainen & Juha Helenius & Mika Jalava & Arto O. Salonen & Matti Kummu, 2019. "Cattle Production for Exports in Water-Abundant Areas: The Case of Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    20. Pashaei Kamali, Farahnaz & Meuwissen, Miranda P.M. & Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M., 2012. "Conceptual Framework for Extended Life Cycle Assessment of Soy and Beef Chains," 2012 International European Forum, February 13-17, 2012, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 144984, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:17017-:d:1007817. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.