Journal of Biological & Environmental Science, vol.15, no.43, pp.1-9, 2021 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Livestock farms are known to be important greenhouse gas producers. Especially in the agriculture sector, the most important source
of anthropogenic methane (CH4) emission is ruminant animals. In recent studies of dairy cattle, it is noted that most of the formation
of CH4 gas occurs as a result of enteric fermentation. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the CH4 emissions resulting from enteric
fermentation of cattle during the 2004-2020 period in Turkey. The Tier-2 method adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) was used adopted for data generation and calculation of emission factors for the calculation of CH4 emissions for
enteric fermentation in cattle. Based on the study results, the required gross energy (GE) value and enteric fermentation emission
factors (EF) were calculated according to cattle sub-categories. It has been observed that methane gas emission from cattle as a result
of enteric fermentation has followed a fluctuating course in the last 16 years in Turkey. Methane emissions of 541 kT to 907 kT CH4
gas emissions were calculated. Methane emission can be suppressed by changes made in feed rations, added oil and various additives
to reduce methane emissions in the rumen. In addition, breeding high yielding species with low methane production is one of the
strategies that can reduce methane formation.