NZ Could Lead World In Methane Reduction Research
March 30th, 2009
One of NZ’s most respected climate change scientists says NZ is wasting an extraordinary opportunity to lead the world in research on reducing methane emissions from ruminant animals. Professor Martin Manning, head of the NZ Climate Change Institute at Victoria University, made this impassioned claim during oral submissions to the special select committee on the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Manning argues NZ emits proportionally more methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – than any other country, “so why aren’t we doing our own stuff?” NZ has the critical mass of science and the economic incentive to create a high value, innovative, world-leading industry. The result would benefit NZ farmers in a carbon-constrained world by creating farming techniques to substantially lower methane emissions. This would be more likely if farmers have high quality broadband access and use the internet to actively manage farm information.
Rice-growing countries would want this technology as well as traditional NZ competitors in the dairy, sheep and beef markets. Manning argues the result could see significant new, wealth-creating relationships with research and academic institutions in Asia. He says “40% of methane is coming from livestock and rice. We could wipe out 60% of it in 30 years.”
National MP Paul Hutchison is clearly sympathetic. However, he chided the university and research sector for not having a more nationally co-ordinated approach to climate change science, given the urgency for good information to inform policy-making.
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