Digestive enhancers can help meet Kyoto methane target
Antibiotic digestive
enhancers can help governments meet their Kyoto summit environmental targets, says the
National Office of Animal Health.
At the Kyoto summit the UK Government agreed to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases. Farming is responsible for 28% of UK methane emissions, (a) so it
is a target area for reduction.
According to ADAS, methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 15-30 times more
so than carbon dioxide. But as it stays in the atmosphere for 10 years, compared with 100
years for CO2, cutting down methane products will have a more immediate environmental
benefit.(b)
Animals fed antibiotic digestive enhancers digest
their food more efficiently, so excrete up to 15% less methane than those given feed
alone. (c) So, digestive
enhancers are currently helping to minimise emissions from farm animals. However, this
environmental benefit is under threat from repeated political pressure on the products
remaining. Against scientific advice, 5 antibiotic digestive enhancers have
already been withdrawn due to unsubstantiated alleged links to antibiotic resistance.
Any move to remove the remaining digestive enhancers would be
contrary to agreed Government environmental policy, without any direct benefit to the
public, says NOAH.
A full risk benefit analysis is needed before making decisions on a
precautionary basis.
If all dietary
enhancers were taken out of animals’ diets in just France, Germany and the UK
alone, this would lead to an estimated 1,246,000 cubic metres of extra methane being
excreted into the air each day. (c) As well as this, animals require more food,
excrete more nitrogen and phosphorus and increase manure production by about 7 million
cubic metres/ year - equivalent to 3500 Olympic swimming pools!
30 November 1999
Notes for Editors
For further information contact Roger Cook or Alison
Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH
website.
The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1
January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market
licensed animal health products. The association has 36 corporate members and 10 associate members.
In 1998 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £384 million UK animal health
market, with additional valuable exports.
In 1997 the Third Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Kyoto. The EU agreed to
cut its emissions of all greenhouse gases taken together to 8% below 1990 levels in the
period 2008 to 2012.
- References:
(a) ADAS figures quoted in Farmers
Weekly article ‘Research breaks official pledge to reduce methane’, Farmers
Weekly, 12 November 1999.
(b) Figures from Briefing
Document 7 ‘Environmental Benefits of Dietary Enhancing Feed Additives’ (available
on request from the NOAH office).
(c) MAFF figures from MAFF Website
See also
NOAH briefing documents:
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