Enteric methane emissions from the agricultural sector have gained traction as a potential source of greenhouse gas mitigation compared to emissions from more tractable sources, such as the fossilfuel industry. The aim of the ensuing literature review is to evaluate the efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and state of development of technical measures for abating enteric methane emissions from agriculture, i.e., beyond reducing livestock production. We also provide a discussion of the current status of policy instruments for incentivising methane abatement.

We find that:

• Promising technical measures exist, of which the feed additive 3-Nitrooxypropanol is the frontrunner with proven efficacy on reducing methane production in the rumen and with no adverse effects on animal productivity. However, long-run effects of the additive require more research.
• Additives with an effect on absolute emissions are currently not effective in grazing systems due to the need for regular supplementation. Measures that can be effective in all kinds of agricultural livestock systems are under development. Oral slow-release technology, genome editing and permanent methane mitigation via selective breeding or vaccination are examples of such.
• Lack of incentives for farmers to implement mitigation measures is preventing widespread implementation. Appropriate economic policy is required to facilitate utilisation of technical measures. Such novel policy is proposed by New Zealand and Denmark, suggested to be implemented during 2025 and 2027, respectively.