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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/w...iled-as-solution-to-cattles-belches-jt5l6xgb2
I beg your pardon: Australian seaweed hailed as solution to cattle’s belches
Bernard Lagan, Sydney
October 19 2016, 12:00pm, The Times
Seaweed added to the diet of Australian cattle cut the amount of methane they produced by up to 99 per cent
ALAMY
Scientists have discovered that an Australian seaweed offers a dramatic, if unexpected, solution to an discomforting problem: the growing amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the world’s cattle.
They found that adding a small amount of the dried seaweed to a cow’s diet can cut the amount of methane the animal produces by up to 99 per cent. Global livestock are thought to be responsible for about 14.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. Cattle account for more than two thirds of the those emissions.
Scientists at Queensland’s James Cook University stumbled across one type of Australia seaweed, asparagopsis taxiformis, that has a far more dramatic effect on reducing emissions from cattle. Its success surprised the research team led by Professor Rocky De Nys, which had been experimenting with 20 different types of seaweed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cattle.
Initially, they thought their measuring instruments were broken when the one variety of seaweed showed a 99 per cent reduction in cattle greenhouse emissions.
The gases are mostly emitted when cattle belch, rather than from their other end. “We had an inkling that we would get some success from this species, but the scale or amount of success and reduction we saw was very surprising,” Professor De Nys said.
The breakthrough offers a potential solution to the growing problem of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, which has led to calls by some Australian scientists for low-emission kangaroos to be substituted for cattle bred for their meat.
About 1.3 billion people depend partly or entirely on livestock for their livelihoods and about 13 per cent of cattle feed costs are lost in methane gas emissions.
The scientists have discovered that the seaweed found in Queensland coastal waters produces a compound that very effectively prevents methane production. It achieves this by disrupting the enzymes used by the gut microbes that produce methane gas as waste during digestion.
Producing enough of the seaweed would require the harvesting of millions of tons each year if it were to be added to the diet of the world’s cattle herds. The researchers have estimated that just to supply 10 per cent of the Australian cattle population would require at least 6,000 hectares of seaweed farms.
“Wild harvesting isn’t going to do it because it’s far too expensive and the resources aren’t enough,” Rob Kinley, an Australian government research scientist, said.“So we need to get partners on board who can produce the seaweed in a cultivation process.”
I beg your pardon: Australian seaweed hailed as solution to cattle’s belches
Bernard Lagan, Sydney
October 19 2016, 12:00pm, The Times
Seaweed added to the diet of Australian cattle cut the amount of methane they produced by up to 99 per cent
ALAMY
Scientists have discovered that an Australian seaweed offers a dramatic, if unexpected, solution to an discomforting problem: the growing amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the world’s cattle.
They found that adding a small amount of the dried seaweed to a cow’s diet can cut the amount of methane the animal produces by up to 99 per cent. Global livestock are thought to be responsible for about 14.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. Cattle account for more than two thirds of the those emissions.
Scientists at Queensland’s James Cook University stumbled across one type of Australia seaweed, asparagopsis taxiformis, that has a far more dramatic effect on reducing emissions from cattle. Its success surprised the research team led by Professor Rocky De Nys, which had been experimenting with 20 different types of seaweed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cattle.
Initially, they thought their measuring instruments were broken when the one variety of seaweed showed a 99 per cent reduction in cattle greenhouse emissions.
The gases are mostly emitted when cattle belch, rather than from their other end. “We had an inkling that we would get some success from this species, but the scale or amount of success and reduction we saw was very surprising,” Professor De Nys said.
The breakthrough offers a potential solution to the growing problem of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, which has led to calls by some Australian scientists for low-emission kangaroos to be substituted for cattle bred for their meat.
About 1.3 billion people depend partly or entirely on livestock for their livelihoods and about 13 per cent of cattle feed costs are lost in methane gas emissions.
The scientists have discovered that the seaweed found in Queensland coastal waters produces a compound that very effectively prevents methane production. It achieves this by disrupting the enzymes used by the gut microbes that produce methane gas as waste during digestion.
Producing enough of the seaweed would require the harvesting of millions of tons each year if it were to be added to the diet of the world’s cattle herds. The researchers have estimated that just to supply 10 per cent of the Australian cattle population would require at least 6,000 hectares of seaweed farms.
“Wild harvesting isn’t going to do it because it’s far too expensive and the resources aren’t enough,” Rob Kinley, an Australian government research scientist, said.“So we need to get partners on board who can produce the seaweed in a cultivation process.”