Determination of carbon footprint of some livestock enterprises in bursa region

Global warming is the rise of the earth's temperature as a result of increasing the concentration of gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases disrupt the energy balance of the planet and cause the surface temperature to rise. This effect of greenhouse gases is called the greenhouse effect and the warming that occurs in this way is called 'global warming'. Among the causes of global warming and climate change are industrialization, energy production, destruction of forests and other human activities, especially the use of fossil fuels. In its Climate Report published in 2007, the United Nations states that global warming has been created by 90% of people in the last 50 years and has become increasingly difficult with economic growth (industrialization) and population growth. The aim of this study is to estimate the carbon footprint resulting from a functional unit produced in one 100 head milk cattle, one 180 head sheep cattle and one 12000 head poultry farms operating in Bursa region. In this study, 1 liter of milk in dairy cattle farm, 1 kg of meat in sheep farm and 1 kg of eggs in poultry farm were considered as functional units. In this study, Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches were used to estimate methane gas emission both from enteric fermentation and from fertilizer management. Results obtained at the end of the study for Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches 0.4215-1.0693 kg CO2e / 1 L milk, 0.0912-0,1002 kg CO2e / 1 kg meat, 0.3834 kg CO2e / 1 kg eggs. Since the data containing the Tier 2 approach could not be reached for the poultry farm, the calculation could not be made. According to the results, processes such as adding high quality and high energy nutrients to the feed ration, better planning of fertilizer operating systems and composting are recommended for reducing enteric fermentation.