Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When calculating greenhouse gas emissions, methane, a by-product of agriculture, is considered to be 25 times more warming than carbon. It does not seem to have been taken into account that the effect of carbon is cumulative. Carbon gathers in the atmosphere whereas methane breaks down within a 12-year cycle period. Therefore, the effect of methane is not cumulative. I cannot find anything in the documentation from the Department, the ESRI or the CSO that brings in a variable to take into account the fact that the methane cycle is a cycle within the carbon cycle. I brought this up with the ESRI and the CSO representatives when they were before us. My point is that there is over-calculation of the impact of agriculture on the carbon footprint of Ireland because methane, although it is considered to be 25 times more warming than carbon, is constantly on the move and constantly breaking down.

The British Veterinary Association has done some work on this. New Zealand, which has a similar agricultural profile to ours and the same type of grassland, has recently brought in a variable to account for this. It would be in the interest of heavily agriculture-based economies to examine this area. It appears to me that agriculture is being unfairly blamed based on an over-calculation of the contribution of methane to warming overall. Does anybody know anything about this?