The enteric fermentation (burps) of ruminants such as cattle, goat, sheep and buffalo contain methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas (GHG) that has over 25 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is said that the greenhouse effect of methane gas, which is caused by the burps of cows, accounts for about 48.6% of the Newzeland’s*1 and about 26% of Australia’s*2 total greenhouse gas emissions, and researches are underway to develop technologies to evaluate and mitigate methane gas from enteric fermentation of ruminants in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In particular, feed, supplements and breeding are under research with the aim to develop improved feed and new breed, which will contribute to reduction of CH4 emission from cattle burbs while maintaining productivity.
*1. Reference: environment.govt.nz, New Zealand's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2022
*2. Reference: DCCEEW.gov.au, Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: June 2022
The methods for measuring CH4 include the “chamber method,” where cattle are placed in a fully enclosed chamber for several days, the green feed method*3, where CH4 is measured during grazing and feeding in a feed box, and the "sniffer method*4", where CH4 is measured in a semi-open room during milking and feeding. The fully enclosed chamber method can accurately measure CH4 and CO2 emissions, and its measurement data is positioned as the gold standard. On the other hand, the green feed and sniffer methods are simplified measurement approaches that use analyzers in a farm-like environments, making it easier to measure large number of animals. In addition, these methods are gaining attention for their ability to investigate the relationship between CH4 and CO2 emissions from the cattle burps and production patterns or the surrounding environments.
*3. Automated mask method called GREENFEED by C-Lock (U.S.)
*4. Reference：National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, NARO, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Manual for estimating methane emissions from bovine rumen fermentation
Chamber Method
▶ Click here for the Chamber method solution
Sniffer method
HORIBA offers gas analyzers and sampling systems best suited to your needs for both sniffer and chamber methods of measurement.
Example of chamber system configuration
The VA-5000 Series Multi-Component Gas Analyzer can simultaneously measure up to three lines of CH4 in real time. Simultaneous measurement with CO2 is also possible. Optional sampling units and multipoint switching are also available to suit your experiments, allowing flexibly configure the system to meet your needs.
One analyzer can simultaneously measure methane concentration in up to 3 different streams*5
Multi-component measurement
One analyzer can deliver the measurement of CH4, N2O, CO2, and O2 *6
Monitoring of several chambers by one system
Multi-point switching system with periodic measurement of each sampling point
*5. Two streams can be measured with min. measurement range 0-100 ppm, third stream with min. measurement range 0-500 ppm.
*6. In design with 4 components, oxygen measurement technology is fixed to Galvanic.
Multi-Component Gas Analyzer VA-5111 and
Sampling Unit VS-5001
Example of sniffer system configuration
The PG-300 Series Portable Gas Analyzer, removes moisture (in combination with the cooler unit, PS-300), continuously measures, making it ideal solution for making them ideal for sniffer method measurements.
Highly accurate measurement by cross-modulation technology
The CH4 and N2O are measured by cross-modulation NDIR technology resulting in low zero drift and long-term high accuracy even in the field
Easy data collection by SD card
The Analyzer is equipped with an SD card slot, so data can be collected in CSV format and easily transferred
Automatic warm-up time
Prevents variation depends on the operator and supports uniform quality of the measurement data
Portable Gas Analyzer PG-324
Multi-Component Gas Analyzer
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