Why Methane Matters

Farming in New Zealand is not for the faint of heart, but can be incredibly rewarding as MMV’s sister company Lone Star Farms will attest. We acknowledge that our industry is a significant contributor to GHG emissions and take responsibility for our part in addressing the issue.  This is why MMV was created over a decade ago.

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While livestock accounts for 6% of Global anthropogenic GHG Emissions over a GWP100 year horizon, the true more immediate planetary impact is three times that over the first 20 years of being emitted.  Given we need impact now, not later, our position is that GWP20 is a more appropriate measure of warming impact, that informs where to focus mitigation efforts for greatest immediate effect.

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Methane’s half-life is approx. 12 years, unlike CO2 (nearly 100yrs).  Conservatively using GWP20 as a more appropriate measure, methane generates an 80x greater global warming effect than carbon dioxide per tonne emitted.