Reducing rumen methane emissions through elimination of rumen protozoa

1999 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Hegarty

Methanogens living on and within rumen ciliate protozoa may be responsible for up to 37% of the rumen methane emissions. In the absence of protozoa, rumen methane emissions are reduced by an average of 13% but this varies with diet. Decreased methane emissions from the protozoa-free rumen may be a consequence of: (1) reduced ruminal dry matter digestion; (2) a decreased methanogen population; (3) an altered pattern of volatile fatty acid production and hydrogen availability; or (4) increased partial pressure of oxygen in the rumen. The decline in methanogenesis associated with removal of protozoa is greatest on high concentrate diets and this is in keeping with protozoa being relatively more important sources of hydrogen on starch diets, because many starch-fermenting bacteria do not produce H2. Because protozoa also decrease the supply of protein available to the host animal, their elimination offers benefits in both decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and potentially increasing livestock production. Strategies for eliminating protozoa are reviewed. None of the available techniques is considered practical for commercial application and this should be addressed.

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Smith ◽  
A. B. Mcallan

1. Sheep, cows and calves fitted with rumen cannulas were given diets mostly containing 10–16 g nitrogen/kg dry matter and consisting of roughage and cereals. Mixed bacteria were separated from samples of their rumen contents.2. Bacteria taken 4–6 h after a feed from calves which were kept in an experimental calf-house with no contact with adult animals (environment A) contained more α-dextran, less total N and higher nucleic acid:total N ratios than similar bacteria from calves reared in contact with adult sheep (environment C) but otherwise treated in an identical way.3. Mixed bacteria taken 4–6 h after a feed from sheep and cows were similar in composition, with respect to nitrogenous components, to those from the ‘environment C’ calves. This composition did not vary significantly when diets containing differing proportions of roughage were given.4. The ‘environment A’ calves were free of ciliate protozoa. When they were placed in contact with, and were inoculated with rumen contents from, adult cattle (environment B), they rapidly developed a normal protozoal population and the chemical composition of their rumen bacteria became like that of the bacteria from the ‘environment C’ calves.5. Mixed bacteria taken just before a feed, from either cows or ‘environment A’ calves, showed significantly lower RNA-N:total N ratios and slightly (but not usually significantly) higher DNA-N:total N ratios than bacteria taken 4–6 h after feeding. Total N contents of the bacteria did not change consistently with time after feeding.6. The possible significance of these differences in relation to the nutrition of the host animal is discussed.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2843
Author(s):  
Julia Puchalska ◽  
Małgorzata Szumacher-Strabel ◽  
Amlan Kumar Patra ◽  
Sylwester Ślusarczyk ◽  
Min Gao ◽  
...  

This experiment was conducted to study the effects of different concentrations of polyphenols of Paulownia Clon In Vitro 112® leaves or their particular parts on in vitro ruminal fermentation, methane production and microbial population. Paulownia leaves with high (PLH; 31.35 mg/g dry matter (DM)), medium (PLM; 26.94 mg/g DM), and low level of polyphenols (PLL; 11.90 mg/g DM) were used from three plantation areas. Lamina (PLLA; 33.63 mg/g DM) and twigs (PLT; 2.53 mg/g DM) of leaves were also collected from the PLM plantation. The chemical analyses of Paulownia leaves indicated that the content of the most basic nutrients (e.g., crude protein concentration of 185 g/kg of DM) were similar to dehydrated alfalfa. The in vitro results showed that the use of Paulownia leaves with the highest content of total polyphenols (PLH and PLLA) decreased methane production, methanogens numbers, and acetate to propionate ratio. In PLT, lowered methane production was followed by reduced substrate degradability and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration along with higher acetate to propionate ratio. Therefore, reduction of methane production in PLH and PLLA was attributed to the lowered methanogen population, whereas in PLT it was caused by decreased substrate degradability with the resultant of limited hydrogen availability to the methanogens.


1972 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. A. Borhami ◽  
K. El-Shazly ◽  
A. R. Abou Akkada

SUMMARYTwo fistulated rams were infused through the rumen cannulae with acetic acid or sodium acetate for 4 consecutive days. This infusion has caused a significant drop in the daily feed intake and in the concentrations of rumen ciliate protozoa. The holotrich protozoa were the most susceptible, whereas entodinia were the least sensitive, to the reducing effect of acetic acid or sodium acetate. Decreasing the daily feed intake by 30% has caused little or no change in the concentrations of rumen ciliate protozoa. The in vitro incubation of sodium acetate and rumen contents has resulted in a remarkable depression in the protozoal numbers. Most of this decrease occurred after 5 h of incubation. The addition of acetic acid or sodium acetate to washed suspensions of mixed populations of rumen ciliate protozoa has decreased the in vitro volatile fatty acid production. It is suggested that both the low pH and acetate, ion were responsible for the reduction in the protozoal numbers in the rumen of rams infused with acetic acid or sodium acetate. The effect of acetate on the ciliate protozoa could be an explanation of the diurnal changes in the concentrations of various protozoal groups usually observed in the rumen of the host animal.


2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (7) ◽  
pp. 1280-1290 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. LAGE ◽  
E. SAN VITO ◽  
R. A. REIS ◽  
E. E. DALLANTONIA ◽  
L. R. SIMONETTI ◽  
...  

SUMMARYA total of 70 Nellore bulls (18 ± 3 months of age) were used to determine the effects of crude glycerine (CG) replacing starch- v. fibre-based energy ingredients in low (LC; 0·40 concentrate) or high concentrate (HC; 0·60 concentrate) – on a dry matter (DM) basis – on DM intake (DMI), methane emissions and growth. Ten bulls were slaughtered (reference group) to obtain the carcass gain (CrG). The 60 remaining bulls (374 ± 24·5 kg) were allocated to a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement (two concentrate levels, LC or HC; and three feeding regimes, FR). The FR were: CO – without CG and maize as an ingredient of concentrate; CGM – inclusion of CG (0·10 of DM) replacing maize in the concentrate; and CGSH – inclusion of CG (0·10 of DM) replacing soybean hulls (SH) in the concentrate. Bulls fed LC or HC had similar DMI (kg/d) and growth. The DMI and average daily gain (ADG) were similar among FR. Concentrate level and FR tended to interact for methane emissions (g) per kg DMI. Bulls fed CGM had a greater G : F (g CrG/kg DMI) than those fed CO or CGSH diets. Increasing dietary concentrate (0·40–0·60) did not affect intake, methane emissions, or growth. Inclusion of CG in diets to replace SH in LC diets tended to decrease methane emissions from animals. When CG replaces SH in the diets, CrG and G:F (g CrG/kg DMI) are decreased compared with bulls fed CGM.


Author(s):  
Putu Dian Paramitha Dewi ◽  
I Wayan Suarna ◽  
I Wayan Budiarsa Suyasa

Waste is one source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that has methane gas form which caused an early multi-dimensional, massive and complex problems. The rapid increase of garbage volume entering landfill, annually result a high garbage dumps in the Suwung Landfill area. It should have been considered a handing solution for example by converting the methane gas content in the waste into a useful value added product. The objective of this research is determining the amount of electrical energy that can be produced through methane gas emission at Suwung Landfill. The characteristic and composition of waste could give effect to the formation of methane emissions. The research on the composition and characteristic of waste were done by sorting 1 m3 of garbage sample from new garbage entering landfill. Garbage is divided based on the source of DLHK waste, market waste, and private waste. The volume of waste that went to Suwung Landfill in 2016 calculated 1.296.438 m3 which was dominated by organic waste (78,1%). The density of the waste that went into Suwung Landfill, based on the research's results, amounted to 135,09 kg / m3, there fore could be assumed that the weight of waste that went to Suwung Landfill in 2016 was 175.135,81 tons. Based on these data, the number of 136.785,13 tons of waste, which was organic waste, could increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere if this situation does not manage properly. Gravimeter method is using for measures the dry matter content value of waste. From the measurement, the results obtained the waste components that have the highest dry matter content is from rubber and leather garbage (76,52%) while the lowest dry matter is food waste (19,13%). By using calculations based on IPCC 2006, it was found that the amount of methane emissions could be generated by the waste at the Suwung Landfill in 2016, amounted to 3.535,06 tons. Based on the energy equivalence table, the electrical power that is generated from the potential methane emissions at the Suwung Landfill is 6,66 MW. Keywords: waste composition, waste characteristics, methane emissions, ipcc2006, electrical power.


2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-513
Author(s):  
Rafaela Scalise Xavier de Freitas ◽  
Delci de Deus Nepomuceno ◽  
Elisa Cristina Modesto ◽  
Tatiana Pires Pereira ◽  
João Carlos de Carvalho Almeida ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the addition of the methanolic extract of Urochloa humidicola at four different concentrations (0, 75, 150, and 250 g L-1) on the in vitro rumen fermentation of Urochloa brizantha. The following variables were evaluated by the in vitro gas production technique: kinetic parameters; rumen degradation of dry matter; and production and concentration of the methane and carbon dioxide gases and of the acetate, propionate, and butyrate short-chain fatty acids. The addition of the methanolic extract reduces the production of gases generated from the degradation of non-fibrous carbohydrates (fraction A) in 9.55, 6.67, and 13.33%, respectively, at the concentrations of 75, 150, and 250 g L-1, compared with the control group, but it negatively affects the degradation of the dry matter of U. brizantha at the concentrations of 150 and 250 g L-1. The extract shows negative quadratic effect on gas production during 12 and 24 hours of U. brizantha incubation. The extract of U. humidicola reduces methane production and increases short-chain fatty acid production at the concentrations of 75, 150, and 250 g L-1.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 ◽  
pp. 87-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.B. Salawu ◽  
A.T. Adesogan ◽  
R.J. Dewhurst

Compared to grass silage, pea/wheat bi-crops produce higher dry matter (DM) yields, higher feed intakes and nitrogen (N) retention (Adesogan et al., 2000). The improved performance of animals fed bi-crops may be due to a postulated synchronous supply of readily fermentable energy and protein for ruminal microbial protein synthesis. This study attempted to validate this theory by measuring the rumen degradability of grass silages and pea/wheat bi-crop silages containing different pea varieties. To determine if grass silage-fed animals could be used to determine the degradability of bi-crops, the effect of host animal diet on rumen degradation was also examined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pol Llonch ◽  
Shane M. Troy ◽  
Carol-Anne Duthie ◽  
Miguel Somarriba ◽  
John Rooke ◽  
...  

Respiration chambers are considered the ‘gold standard’ technique for measuring in vivo methane (CH4) emissions in live animals. However, the imposed isolation required may alter feeding behaviour and intake, which ultimately impact CH4 emissions. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of isolation within respiration chambers on feed intake and CH4 emissions with two different diets and breeds of beef cattle. In addition, a routine stressor (transport) was used to examine the relationship between individual stress responsiveness and changes in feed intake during isolation. Eighty-four steers (castrated males) (569 ± 5.7 kg bodyweight, BW) were divided into two groups and each group fed with one of two basal diets consisting of (g/kg dry matter, DM) either 50 : 50 (Mixed) or 8 : 92 (Concentrate) forage to concentrate ratios. Within each basal diet there were three supplementation treatments: (1) control, (2) calcium nitrate, and (3) rapeseed cake. The stress biomarkers plasma cortisol, creatine kinase (CK), and free fatty acids (FFA) were determined before (0 h) and after (30 min, 3 h, 6 h and 9 h) a 30-min journey, when steers were transported to the respiration chamber facilities. Methane emissions were measured over a 3-day period using individual respiration chambers. Dry matter intake (DMI) was assessed within the group-housed pens (4 weeks before entry to training pen), in the training pens and the chambers. Cortisol, FFA and CK increased (P < 0.05) after transport confirming a stress response. DMI (g/kg BW) decreased (P < 0.001) during isolation in the training pens (14.7 ± 0.28) and the chambers (14.3 ± 0.26) compared with that of the same animals in the group pens (16.8 ± 0.23). DMI during isolation decreased more in those animals which had an increased (P < 0.05) stress response during transport as measured by cortisol, FFA and CK. With the Mixed diet, the decline in DMI was estimated to result in an increase in CH4 (g/kg DMI) (r = 0.25, P = 0.001), which did not occur with the Concentrate diet. According to the results of this experiment, the stress associated with isolation reduces the DMI resulting in an increase in g CH4/kg DMI in fibrous diets. Habituation to isolation needs refinement in order to reduce the impact of stress on intake and therefore achieve more accurate estimates of CH4 emissions. Alternatively, modelling CH4 estimations according to behavioural and physiological changes associated with isolation stress would improve accuracy of CH4 estimations.


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