http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/methane-cow.htm
Research on ruminant for reducing GHG is important.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Do cows pollute as much as cars? Agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase by 60 percent by 2030 [Source: Times Online]. The world's 1.5 billion cows and billions of other grazing animals emit dozens of polluting gases, including lots of methane. Two-thirds of all ammonia comes from cows.
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Your pictograph is wrong as are (I've found) many cow CO2 respiration calculations. The only carbon going into the cow is from the food that they eat, so the amount of carbon being respired must be less than what is consumed (of course, knowing that carbon comes out from excretion and is absorbed through weight gain.)
You can not take in 50kg of forage (which is frankly too high. Estimated average consumption is between 10 and 20 kg per day for a cow. The high side is for a dairy cow). The carbon content of dry matter (forage) is let's call it 50% for ease of calculation. At 20kg X 50% C, you have 10kg of C. A liter of CO2 is equivalent to 2.24 lbs, so 1500L = 3,363 lbs. of CO2. The carbon in CO2 accounts for 27% of the mass, so 3,363lbx CO2 X 27% = 908 lbs. of C or 412kg of C. You ingest 10kg of C and exhale 412kg per day.
For a better estimate of cow respiration, see a fairly new report. https://www.biogeosciences.net/13/2959/2016/bg-13-2959-2016.pdf
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