How do I estimate enteric methane from dairy cattle and buffalo in India?

Multiply the average number of animals by a methane factor per head per year, then by methane's warming potential. With the IPCC 2006 Tier 1 factor for dairy cattle in the Indian subcontinent, 58 kg CH4 a year, times 27 under AR6, each cow comes to about 1.57 tonnes CO2e. Buffalo have their own factor.

The Tier 1 method

1. Count average annual population by type: dairy cows, other cattle, buffalo. For animals present part of the year, use animals x days present / 365.
2. Apply the per-head factor. IPCC 2006 Volume 4, Chapter 10, Table 10.11 gives 58 kg CH4 a year for dairy cattle and 27 for other cattle in the Indian subcontinent. Take the buffalo factor from the same chapter's Tier 1 tables and note the table number.
3. Convert to CO2e with a GWP. AR6 gives 27 for methane of non-fossil origin; some programmes still ask for the AR5 value of 28, so use what your buyer or framework specifies and say which.
4. Divide by milk volume for an intensity per litre.

When Tier 1 is too rough

The Tier 1 dairy factor rests on a low milk yield per animal, which the table states beside the factor. Higher yielding cows eat more and emit more methane per head, though less per litre. If your herd yields well above that, or a buyer wants reduction tracking, move to Tier 2, which works from feed intake, digestibility, body weight and milk yield.

The IPCC 2019 Refinement revised enteric factors and groups them by productivity, and India's national inventory reported to the UNFCCC uses country-specific factors. These give different results from the 2006 tables, so name the edition and table you used and keep it the same each year.

Where it sits in a dairy company's inventory

• Your own herd, if you run farms: Scope 1, as land and livestock (FLAG) emissions.
• Milk bought from farmers or cooperatives: Scope 3 Category 1, purchased goods.
• Manure management methane and nitrous oxide, feed production and land use change are separate lines, not part of enteric fermentation.
• SBTi's FLAG guidance asks companies with significant land-related emissions to set a separate FLAG target; check whether that applies to you.

Worked example: a milk collection area with 200 dairy cows

• Dairy cows: 200 x 58 = 11,600 kg CH4 a year
• CO2e = 11,600 x 27 = 313,200 kg, about 313 tonnes
• Milk: 200 cows x 1,500 L = 300,000 L
• Intensity = 313,200 / 300,000 = 1.04 kg CO2e per litre, enteric methane only
• Buffalo: add head count x the Tier 1 buffalo factor x 27 as a separate line

Tier 1 factor from IPCC 2006 Table 10.11; the herd size and 1,500 L yield are illustrative. A yield above the Tier 1 assumption means the per-head factor is probably too low, which is a reason to move to Tier 2.

What Senseible does here

Enteric methane is worked out from herd data as shown here, outside Senseible's document reader. Senseible reads the fuel invoices and electricity bills for chilling, processing and transport, so those Scope 1 and 2 lines sit in an invoice-backed record beside your herd estimate.

• Agriculture Scope 1 emissions in India
• Methane and black carbon vs CO2
• Does my company need an SBTi FLAG target?

Sources: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 10, Tables 10.10 and 10.11, IPCC AR6 WG1, Chapter 7, Table 7.15 (methane GWP), SBTi, Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Guidance

Last reviewed 2026-10-17. Factors differ between the IPCC 2006 tables and the 2019 Refinement; this page uses the 2006 Tier 1 values.