Milk production and methane emissions in the region of Corede, RS

ABSTRACT

The article aims to analyze milk production in the region COREDE focusing on emissions of greenhouse gases as a negative externality of this important economic activity. For emission estimates we used the Tier 1 methodology proposed by the IPCC. Emissions increased from 1.0 in 1974 to 8.64 gigagrams CH4 in 2011, representing an increase of 767% on an estimate of the beginning of the analysis period emissions. In terms of the rate of geometric growth, emissions increased at a rate of 6.0% per year. However, if we consider the average methane emission per liter of milk produced, we can see that it reduced significantly in value during the analysis period, from 58 grams of CH4 per liter of milk produced in 1974 to 24 grams in 2011, meaning that methane emissions per liter of milk are reduced by half, showing that the productivity gain allows a reduction in emissions, since it is followed by a herd reduction and management strategies that reduce emissions.

Dairy Cattle; Methane; COREDE; externalities