[Thematic report ] Calculating the environment cost of 1 lit of milkby Sachin Regmi | 21-05-2020 00:45 |
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Calculating the environment cost of 1 lit of milk Agriculture is integral component of human survival. We need variety of foods every day. Natural nutrition comes from two different sources- animal and plant source. Both these sources are responsible for green house gas emission. Data indicates around 15% of world¡¯s greenhouse gas comes from agriculture alone, comparable to 30% by transportation. With increasing demand for food production these byproducts are expected to raise by 60% in next 10 years. Cattle are kept for milk and meat. However, they are major source of CO2, Methane, Ammonia which are directly associated with global warming. Milk is one of the most widely produced and valuable agricultural commodities worldwide. It is major source of calcium, protein, fats, vitamins and other minerals. Globally 264 million dairy cows are producing around 600 million ton of milk annually. So, let¡¯s calculate environment cost of 1 lit of milk Annual milk production average per cow= 2,200 lit [1] Per day Average milk production per cow= 6.11 lit Per day Average Methane emission per cow= 587 lit [2] Per day Average carbon dioxide emission per cow= 6137 lit [2] Per day Average Ammonia emission per cow= 32 lit [3] This concludes per liter of milk produced 96.07 lit of methane, 1,004.41 lit of carbon dioxide and 5.23 lit of ammonia is produced on an average. The data excludes unproductive cattle emission, and indirect emission of these gases by feed plants etc. Methane thus produced is collected and used as fuel and ammonia as manure which is utilized by plants to make protein. Never the less the impact of these emission on global warming cannot be ignored. New techniques and technologies are introduced everyday to minimize the damage. References:
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