Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Methanogens and Cow Flatulence
I love the smell of Cow flatulence in the morning, it reminds me of ………….Zoology.
Methanogens
Bacteria in the stomachs of cows (and other ruminant animals) break down and ferment fodder during digestion, producing methane. The initial steps are performed either by facultative anaerobic bacteria (such as E. coli which convert formate to H2 and CO2) or by obligate anaerobes (Clostridium or Selenomonas which do similar conversions). Methanogenic archaebacteria (a group separate from true bacteria) are obligate anaerobes that are very sensitive to oxygen and prefer environments without any other electron acceptors such as nitrogen. They perform the final steps in the fermentation and they convert H2 and CO2 produced by the other organisms to methane by the following equation:
4 H2 + CO2 --> CH4 + 2 H2O + ATP
or they can convert acetic acid to make methane as below:
C2H4O2 --> CH4 + CO2 + ATP
This CO2 can further be used in the first equation to make more methane. Approximately 90 – 95% of the CO2 is converted to methane, and the energy derived is used to fix the remaining CO2 into cellular materials. Strictly speaking, this methane formation action by the methanogens is not a fermentation (as there is no substrate level phosphorylation and ATP is generated via the methane formation pathway), but is rather a strange form of respiration.
These methanogens are present in ruminant animals other than cows, such as sheep and wildebeest. Approximately 10 percent of humans have these methanogens in their guts as well (probably inherited from their parents).
Cow flatulence
It has been estimated that 9 to 12% of the energy that a cow consumes is turned to methane that is released either through flatulence or burping. A huge number of factors affect methane emission, including diet, barn conditions and whether the cow is lactating, but an average cow in a barn produce 542 liters of methane a day, and 600 liters when out in a field.
These estimates were made using a trace gas (sulphur hexofluoride) that was released at known points within a barn containing 90 cattle. Levels of this trace gas and CO2 are then measured 30 metres downwind of the shed and thus they can estimate how much CO2 is released per cow per day. All this methane can add up to a significant amount. Australia's 140 million sheep and cattle are estimated to produce one seventh of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions, whilst America's 100 million cattle also are major contributors.
Nigerian state to 'arrest and fine' stray animals
Thu Jul 28, 8:43 AM ET
Authorities in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna have set up a squad to "arrest" stray farm animals and a mobile court to fine their owners after a series of freak accidents, officials said.
Cows, camels, goats and donkeys have long been a common sight on the roads and streets of Nigeria, but their tendency to roam unattended has recently become more controversial after three terrible incidents involving cattle.
In May, 25 people were killed when a truck swerved to avoid a cow and ran into a crowded long-haul bus in the southwest of Nigeria. Last month, a cow attacked and killed a Lagos bus driver who had stopped to urinate by the road.
Then on July 7 an Air France passenger jet carrying 196 people narrowly escaped tragedy after it ploughed into a herd of cows wandering on the runway of Port Harcourt airport, killing seven of them and suffering damage itself.
Kaduna State in the north of the country has now become the first authority to tighten up the rules on stray animals, environment commissioner Mohammed Musa Baba told AFP in a telephone interview from the city of Kaduna.
Animals, he said "have become a serious menace to traffic in the metropolis and a health hazard to the city by littering the streets with their droppings.
"The state government has established mobile courts, backed by law, to arrest and detain any animals seen roaming the streets, especially cows, sheep and goats, which move in herds," he added.
"The mobile courts are to place a fine of 2,000 naira (12.4 euros / 15 dollars) on each cow arrested while 500 naira will be charged on every other animal," he said.
Any owner who does not come forward to pay the fine will see his beast auctioned off by the state environment commission, he added.
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