Topic outline

This course aims to provide practical guidance for data collection and emissions estimation from livestock enteric fermentation, using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Tier 2 method, as described in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.

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This course targets:

  • Staff of national agencies involved in preparation of GHG inventory for livestock in their country, including greenhouse gas inventory compilers.
  • Staff of national agencies involved in coordination and reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • Data providers.
  • Researchers and students.
  • Climate change experts and media.

  • The role of methane in climate change.
  • Enteric fermentation in ruminants, and the importance of estimating global methane emissions from livestock.
  • Benefits and challenges of using Tier 2 rather than Tier 1 method.
  • Categorizing the livestock population into homogenous subcategories.
  • Calculations for estimating digestible and various categories of net energy.
  • Calculations for using estimated gross energy and methane conversion factors to estimate overall emissions from enteric fermentation.

This course consists of three lessons of approximately 25 to 80 minutes duration each:

  • Lesson 1 – Why enteric methane matters
  • Lesson 2 – Categorizing the animal population
  • Lesson 3 – Developing Tier 2 emission factors

This course runs on the latest versions of the major browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

The course opens in a separate popup window. If this does not happen, a popup blocker in the browser is probably preventing it from opening and you will need to disable popup blockers for this site. Please read the following instructions on how to do this.


Digital certification

This course offers certification. You will get your digital badge upon passing a final exam after completing the course and achieving a grade of at least 75%. Please click on the button below to complete the exam, or refer to our Certification section to learn more.

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    • Partners

      UNFCCC GEF