Around the world, chickens and pigs are playing a role in reducing global warming, while cows and sheep still need to make progress in this area. These farm animals release a significant amount of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is often overlooked compared to carbon dioxide but is crucial in the fight against climate change. Government regulations and a UN-supported system of emission credits are proving to be profitable for investors, farmers, and major polluters like power plants looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. This is because methane is much more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and it is relatively easy to capture the gas from sources like animal waste, landfills, coal mines, or leaking natural gas pipelines. "A significant portion of global warming caused by greenhouse gases can be attributed to methane emissions since before the industrial era," stated climate scientist Paul Fraser from Australia, where livestock release large quantities of this gas. Methane levels in the atmosphere have risen by approximately 150 percent since 1750, surpassing natural levels from the past 650,000 years, according to the UN's climate panel. Human activities are primarily responsible for this increase. The panel will address strategies for reducing methane and other greenhouse gas emissions in a major report on climate change mitigation to be released in Bangkok in early May. Bill Hare, climate policy director for Greenpeace and a key contributor to the report, noted that reducing methane emissions may be more cost-effective than reducing carbon dioxide emissions. He stated that in the United States, there has been a significant amount of policy discussion focused on methane rather than more challenging issues like CO2 emissions from coal. The reason for this is that capturing methane from sources such as landfills, mines, fossil fuel production, and natural gas lines is relatively simple and economically viable. Methane, which is a key component of natural gas, can be burned for power generation. However, Hare noted that agriculture presents a greater challenge, particularly when it comes to methane emissions from livestock and rice agriculture. He emphasized that changing practices in agriculture to reduce methane emissions may take longer compared to industrial areas. Rice paddies and other irrigated crops, as well as natural wetlands, produce significant amounts of methane. Additionally, large quantities of methane are found in deposits under ice in sub-polar regions, permafrost, and under the sea. Many options are being explored to reduce methane emissions, such as additives for livestock and changing farming practices. Despite efforts, methane levels in the atmosphere have remained stable since around 1999, according to Fraser, who leads the Changing Atmosphere Research Group at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This is believed to be due to the fact that the drying of tropical wetlands is offsetting an increase in emissions from the oil and gas industry. It is uncertain how long this trend will continue. Many anticipate that methane emissions will eventually rise again due to the global demand for natural gas, rice, and cattle. This is why chicken manure and pig waste are in high demand. Through the UN's Kyoto Protocol, wealthy countries can meet their emissions targets by investing in projects that reduce greenhouse gases in developing countries, receiving carbon credits in exchange. This has led to significant investments in large pig farms in South America and poultry farms in India. The waste from these farms is processed in digesters to extract methane, which is then used to generate electricity or released as CO2. N Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu from the Singapore-based Carbon Exchange, which trades Kyoto carbon credits and facilitates emissions off-setting deals, noted a growing interest in such projects. The Kyoto system of emissions credits, overseen by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, has gained popularity with numerous methane-abatement projects approved in recent years and more under consideration. However, Stephan Singer from the conservation group WWF believes this approach is not a complete solution. He argues that more focus should be placed on regulating carbon dioxide emissions and the origins of methane that are more difficult to control. Singer, who leads WWF's European Energy and Climate Policy Unit, stated that only half of all methane emissions are currently being managed, particularly from landfills, coal mines, and the oil and gas industry. He expressed concern about the rising methane levels produced by ruminant animals, primarily due to the growing demand for beef in a wealthier world. The Western diet significantly impacts the environment, with cattle in the US alone releasing 5.5 million tonnes of methane annually, making up 20 percent of the country's methane emissions according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In New Zealand, approximately 50% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Singer is most concerned about the potential sudden release of methane stored in sub-polar permafrost or large methane hydrate deposits under the sea. Although this has not yet occurred, there are concerns among scientists that it could happen in a warmer world. Singer believes that if methane hydrates were to leak, it would be catastrophic.