Life Cycle Assessment of Methane Mitigation Strategies in Beef Production: A Systems Approach to Environmental Sustainability

Document Type : Scientific-Extensional Article

Authors

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

Abstract

Beef production, a pillar of global livestock systems, provides growing nutritional demands while generating enormous environmental problems through methane (CH₄) emissions; a highly potent greenhouse gas that originates primarily from enteric fermentation, manure management, and feed crop land use. This review employs life cycle assessment (LCA) as an integrated scientific method to evaluate methane mitigation strategies in beef production at the systems level beyond traditional nutritional approaches. The objective is to assess the environmental impacts of these actions, identify significant sources of methane and their consequences, and analyze methane abatement trade-offs against carbon sequestration, water use, and biodiversity. Findings indicate that seaweed extracts as feed additives can reduce enteric methane by up to 15%, but an exhaustive LCA pinpoints the necessity of taking supply chain emissions and manure decomposition pathways into consideration. Integrated solutions, such as Australia's adaptive grazing—offset methane through soil carbon sequestration—and minimizing food waste with a 10% reduction on environmental impact, are promising, though their success rests on coordinating upstream and downstream activities. Economic and social factors are also examined in this research, and it is discovered that initial technology costs and policy incentives play a significant role in adoption. Research gaps include temporal resolution inadequacies in LCA models, data inadequacies at the regional scale, and need for innovations like bioengineered feed and methane sensors, necessitating interdisciplinary research that bridges environment, economic, and societal sustainability. It provides an evidence-based framework for enhancing sustainable beef production during a time of heightened climate change and food security concerns.

Keywords

References

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