EDUCATION: GLOBAL METHANE INVENTORY

Research Project 3: Who is Responsible for Methane Emissions?

Introduction

Specifications

• Time: 2 to 4 weeks
• This Project can easily be adapted to include a team of students and become a semester-long project by increasing the number of countries/regions to be studied.

Problem

What percentage of methane produced by rice or cattle by an individual country is exported as that commodity is exported?

Background

Agricultural practices, i.e. the production of rice or the raising of animals, are a major anthropogenic source of methane. However, not all production is consumed in the area where it is produced. Some, if not a great deal, is exported. The Global Climate Convention called for every country to compile an inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol called for specific percentage reduction in all greenhouse emissions for each country based on their 1990 emissions. Should the entire burden of methane reduction be placed on the producer of goods such as rice or should it be shared by the producer and consumer? One way to vestigate this question is by comparing the amount of methane produced by a source in a country and the amount of that source exported by that country. For example, China is the largest producer of methane from rice. However it exports almost none and therefore should be responsible for the methane produced. On the other hand, Thailand exports almost 25% of its rice production. Should it be responsible for the entire amount of methane produced by rice? In this project students will investigate the production and export of rice and cattle and the corresponding methane production from these sources for various countries.

Student Tasks

1. The student will prepare a background research paper on methane including:
   • methane's role in the greenhouse effect.
   • Major natural and anthropogenic sources focusing on rice and cattle.
   • How methane is produced by each source.
   • Major producers of rice and cattle.
2. Students will collect and organize the data for production and export of rice and/or cattle for the countries they have selected, for 1990 or any other year they may select (1990 was selected as a reference year for which data are readily available).
3. They will produce graphs for the production and export of these commodities and use them to compare the relationship of export to production.
4. Students will use the data to calculate the percent of production that is exported. They will state their opinion as to whether that country should be responsible for its entire methane production, supported by the results of this project.

Methodology

1. Select five major producers of rice and/or cattle. (Countries should have been mentioned in the student research paper.)
2. Find the production and export data from FAO.
3. Organize the data in a chart.
4. Calculate the percent exported and put that in the chart.
    % Exported = (Export / Production) × 100%
    Example: Thailand: (4,017,079 / 17,193,216) × 100% = .2336 × 100% = 23.4%
5. Graph both Production and Export as a bar graph for each country on one graph so a comparison can easily be made. Prepare one graph for each source -- rice and/or cattle -- that you have chosen.
6. Using the chart and the graph, draw conclusions about the level of export compared to production. Is any country exporting a significant fraction of its production? Should that country then be held accountable for the entire amount of methane produced by that commodity?

Example:

Rice Production and Exports 1990 (Source: FAO 2000)
	Rice Production (Mt)	Rice Exports (Mt)	% Exported
China	191,614,678	405,381	0.2
India	111,517,408	505,027	0.5
Indonesia	45,178,175	1,911	0.0
Thailand	17,193,216	4,017,079	23.4
Vietnam	19,225,104	1,624,000	8.4
1 metric ton (Mt) = 1000 kg

Analysis

China and India produce a large majority of the world's rice and with it the majority of the methane associated with rice. The amount of rice they export is less than 1% and therefore is insignificant. They should be responsible for all the methane resulting from rice production. Thailand, however, produces a substantial amount of rice and exports 25% of it. Therefore, they should not be responsible for the entire amount of methane emitted by rice. Vietnam produces more rice than Thailand but exports about 8%. Therefore, they too should not be responsible for all methane produced.

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