Scotland and the UK governments are missing out on the key fundamentals of livestock production – methane emissions are not the huge problem perceived by many but instead can be used to make low carbon fuel for vehicles thereby providing a solution to climate change.

Such has been the turnaround in the approach to methane emissions that dairy herds in California look set to become carbon neutral by 2027 with these farms not only generating valuable income from sales of milk but also the amount of bio-gas they are able to produce from covering slurry lagoons.

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Biogas is produced by organic matter as it breaks down and decays. Capturing it from manure slurry and extracting the biomethane means it can be used to generate electricity, burnt to produce heat for space heating and hot water, or even power vehicles such as lorries and tractors.

"It is time to rethink methane. It can be seen as a problem but you can also turn it around to provide a significant asset," said Professor Frank Mitloehner, an air quality specialist and director of the CLEAR Centre, California.

He added that the agricultural industry is not good at communicating and therefore there are few positive articles in the media about farming. Instead, he said the vast majority of articles portray farming in a negative light which is one of the reasons why cattle are perceived as being bad for the environment which in turn leads to adverse farm policies.

On a more positive note, as one of the world's leading scientific experts on sustainable livestock agriculture, he said there is a huge difference between methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

"People have to know the truth about methane," said Professor Mitloehner. "Methane from livestock production can be an asset but it is destroyed over time, whereas nitrous oxide emissions remains in the atmosphere.

"Nitrous oxide is far more powerful than methane which breaks down over a 10-year cycle and is involved in carbon sequestration. People who believe cows are just as bad for the environment as cars are being misinformed."

He also added that not enough is being done to highlight the improved efficiencies seen on all farms over the years, which ultimately has reduced the carbon footprint on all units.

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"In 1950, there were 25m dairy cows in the US compared to 9m now. That's 16m less cows with the remaining 9m producing 60% more milk than they did in 1950, therefore the carbon footprint from those herds is 66% lower.

"Dairy farmers in California have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2.3mmt CO2 E – which is 30% of the sector's methane reduction goal of 7mmt by 2030, by paying farmers to cover slurry lagoons, allowing them to generate an income from milk and bio-gas sales," said Professor Mitloehner, adding that the average herd size in the state is 1500.