Methane Emissions of China: Agricultural Sources and Mitigation Options

Abstract

This paper reports the newest results of estimated methane emission from agricultural systems of China. Hundreds of specimens of the emission were collected respectively from rice paddies, ruminate animals, wastes and biomass burning process. The optimization methodology, including a correct defining rice and animal ecologies and/or subecologies, is emphasized. The estimation results show that the overall methane emission of China’s agricultural sources accounted for 5.50% of the global anthropogenic emissions. For mitigation options, based on some controlling factors, a number of experiments were performed to check the functions of some new inhibitors respectively for rice growth and ruminate animals. Three of them were developed into a new technique which can be benefit both economic and environmental. Because there are some uncertainties in methane emission and its control, several research priorities were proposed, they are: 1) develop simulation models; 2) improve measurement methods; 3) further identify controlling factors; 4)further understand methane-oxidizing bacteria.