That figure exceeded all the greenhouse gases emitted by Italy in the same year, the Climate Observatory said. Brazil, home to the world's second-biggest cattle herd, must develop its own solutions to cut methane emissions, said David Tsai, coordinator of the group's Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Estimates System. He said fossil fuels are a key driver of methane emissions in other countries, whereas in Brazil the problem regards food production. Gabriel Quintana, a specialist in greenhouse gas emissions at Imaflora, a Brazilian non-governmental organization, pointed to New Zealand as an example of a cattle-producing country that had cut its emissions. Methane gas is mainly a byproduct of cattle belching that results from the animals' digestive process.