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Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions
- goodcanadian 10y agoBroken link. It looks like this is what you wanted: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-cow-farting-1.3856202 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-cow-f...
- erl 10y agoThe article only mentions that consuming this particular seaweed eliminates methane. I am missing the production perspective. How much more/less greenhouse gasses are created during production of the seaweed compared to traditional fodder? The net total is what counts.
- M_Grey 10y agoWell the seaweed itself would take up some CO2 during growth... so you have that bonus too. I'd guess the major costs would come during transport.
- mrob 10y agoSeaweed dries and rehydrates well, and like all vegetables it's mostly water, so if it's grown somewhere where it can be sun-dried then total energy cost for transport could be low.
- jstsch 10y agoAlso, seaweed is a good source of protein, which for cows tends to come from (imported) soy or corn.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- the8472 10y agoDoes that require the cows to be entirely fed on the seaweed or does it work as part of a mixture? Edit: found the paper: https://sci-hub.ac/10.1071/AN15576 https://sci-hub.ac/10.1071/AN15576 According to figure 2 it looks like 2-10% of the feed is sufficient to achieve near-total methane reduction and <5% does not negatively affect digestibility, so 2-5% is the sweet spot.
- belorn 10y agoSince this is aimed at environment efforts, I would ask how much 2-5% reduction in feed is in acres of land dedicated to farming and usage of pesticides. To my knowledge, seaweed farm are considered quite eco firendly, not size constrained, and don't need pesticides.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoYour knowledge is all correct (I researched leaving tech to farm seaweed).
- faraggi 10y agoWhat were the conclusions of your research?
- erichocean 10y agoNot the OP, but the typical conclusion would be "effective altruism indicates I should stay in tech and give money to helping fisherman transition to seaweed farming." It's very hard to pass this analysis, since "high tech" is almost universally more valuable to humanity, per unit, that something low tech like farming. If you're already in tech and you want to "help the world", giving money is almost always the best choice. http://www.givewell.org/ http://www.givewell.org/ is a good resource for where to give effectively.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
- aluhut 10y agoI wonder if the seaweed influences the taste of milk or meat.
- andai 10y agoI wonder how much
- DonHopkins 10y agoMore than the farts, hopefully.
- tootie 10y agoConsidering seaweed is rich in glutamates I'd wager it makes the meat tastes really savory and umami. Pure speculation though.
- TulliusCicero 10y agoThere probably isn't an incentive to reduce methane emissions for farmers right now though, right? We'd have to pass regulations mandating a reduction, or an emissions tax or something.
- jdavis703 10y agoNo, and that's not going to happen soon. But companies can start marketing their products as carbon neutral and selling them at a premium at retailers like Whole Foods.
- chillydawg 10y agoThe biggest producers are and will always be the mass market stuff, though. Who cares if 1% of beef is produced carbon neutral? It's nice, but it makes no tangible difference. Sadly this method of encouraging better behaviour won't work unless a costco or a mcdonalds, for some insane reason, wants to cut their profit margin and buy more expensive beef.
- jdavis703 10y agoI agree with you. I'd rather see faster, broader action. But it's not happening soon. But instead of waiting around ask your butcher if they can purchase a "zero carbon" cow (or better yet go vegan/vegetarian :)), don't buy mass market stuff with huge carbon footprints (this Christmas I'm mostly giving food or other things). I used to think the "your wallet can change corporate behavior" line of reasoning at the end of Big Corp exposé-style documentaries (e.g. Fast Food Nation) was a little naïve. But look at how many smaller ethical businesses are out there. Yeah people might make fun of the "small batch artisanal" shops out there, but we're making progress because it is popular enough to be a common punch line.
- ElKoji 10y agoAsking your butcher for "zero carbon" cow is pointless, I agree, it is also the equivalent of attempting to avoid buying things with "huge" carbon footprints (like everything that has plastic on it which is pretty much everything useful), much like buying in artisanal shops, or asking for "grass fed beef" or "free range eggs", it is all highly inefficient which is a problem with our growing population. They are all labels often as meaningless as "organic". The vegan and vegetarian options are rather more efficient and simple ways to achieve the same thing with the added benefit of not torturing animals for no good reason other than a particular taste. Once meat is gone from your diet that's it, no debating whether this you're buying has a huge carbon footprint or not, or simply lying to yourself with the zero carbon, dolphin friendly, free range, organic or grass fed labels. I know the usual argument, you're never going to get people to stop eating meat, but then again how are you going to get everyone to care for these labels (which usually carry a higher price in them)? and more over, policing that these labels are actually true?. Think about it, even in the futuristic scenario of populating Mars, are we really going to carry cattle with us, I think it is time to leave it behind.
- lucio 10y agoHow relevant are cow farts in global warming? is there a percent figure? as in cows contribute x% of gas emissions
- viridian 10y ago16.5% of methane emissions, give or take. If you could further apply this to all livestock, it's around 30%.
- 31reasons 10y agoCombining this with electric cars, we are looking at 50% reduction I think.
- kilotaras 10y agoCars produce CO2, not methane.
- return0 10y agowow thats an insane number
- pbhjpbhj 10y agoI thought it was mainly burps (eructation), read that somewhere recently, eg http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150803-cows-burp-methane-climate-science/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150803-cows-burp-....
- ricardonunez 10y agoHere are couple of articles about it. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/04/11/301794415/gassy-cows-are-warming-the-planet-and-theyre-here-to-stay http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/04/11/301794415/gas... http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2 http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-me...
- blondie9x 10y agoWith deforestation to make cow farms and methane released, its estimated at 18-30%.
- rrggrr 10y agoBut can the seaweed prevent an undersea methane hydrate apocalypse?
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoThat stuff has been around for a billion years; meteorites have hit the ocean before (Yucatan for instance); no apocalypse yet?
- abledon 10y agoSegment on Cow Farts from the latest Climate Change video by National Geographic starring Leonardo Di Caprio: https://youtu.be/IxGOQDiWImA?t=49m31s https://youtu.be/IxGOQDiWImA?t=49m31s
- somberi 10y agoNot just for Bovines, for humans too, Seaweed can come to rescue: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/02/a-new-leaf http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/02/a-new-leaf
- gotofritz 10y ago> All Smith needs to do is to invent a new cuisine based on filter feeders and seaweed That's the problem - I'd love to eat more, but a lot of it it's just not appetising. Eating the salads you get in Korean / Japanese restaurants is like eating soft leather.
- dghughes 10y agoOn an episode of chef Anthony Bourdain a chef in China or Japan (I forget) said the western palate doesn't consider a rubber texture mouth feel appealing like Asian countries. They discussing and were eating a sea cucumber with a rubbery texture. Then again dulce a seaweed is a food in the Canadian Maritimes it's not common but enough that most people have heard of it.
- mrob 10y ago> Seaweed can be rich in protein, Vitamin B12, and trace minerals. The USDA nutrient database lists 8 types of seaweed. Only one of these these ("Canadian Cultivated EMI-TSUNOMATA") contains B12, and it appears to be a proprietary land-cultivated strain of Irish moss, so hardly representative of normal seaweed. The generic Irish moss is also listed with zero B12.
- ars 10y agoPlants are not able to make B12. Only bacteria and archaea are able to do that. So either it's a some kind of symbiosis, or they are mixing it in afterward.
- huxley 10y agoI believe it's still pretty common to use a form of seaweed called Irish Moss as a thickener in ice cream.
- dajohnson89 10y agoCan eating seaweed make human farts smell less offensive?
- gotofritz 10y agoThey'll smell of the sea. Which to the people around could suggest, subliminally, it's time for a beach holiday. A chance for some guerrilla marketing right there...!
- gotofritz 10y agoJesus what a humourless bunch
- patall 10y agoMethane does not smell. To quote wikipedia: "At room temperature and standard pressure, methane is a colorless, odorless gas. The familiar smell of natural gas as used in homes is achieved by the addition of an odorant, usually blends containing tert-butylthiol, as a safety measure."
- ars 10y agoThe methane itself doesn't smell, but the gas carries along other compounds that would otherwise stay put. So reducing the gas can reduce smell.
- mrob 10y agoIt's not impossible. Seaweeds are rich in prebiotic polysaccharides that could theoretically alter your gut microbiome to something less odoriferous. But it could also have the opposite effect. Understanding of the human microbiome is still primitive, and most attempts to manipulate it aren't much different from hitting electronics when it's not working.
- heisenbit 10y agoIf seaweed eliminates methane it likely will affect some gut bacteria more than others. We would not blindly swallow antibiotics affecting what is happening in our gut. There will be side effects one way or another - usually the more effect the more side effect. Seaweed is worth studying and has promise but I'm skeptical when it comes super food claims.
- the8472 10y agoIf i read it correctly the paper says the effect comes through bromoform contained in the algae, which inhibits the enzymes participating in the methane production. It's only fed in sub-toxic amounts to the cows I don't think it bio-accumulates, so the meat should be safe for consumption. in other words, it has nothing to do with antibiotics.
- petra 10y agoWouldn't it be better/cheaper just to make and feed the cows some bromoform ?
- the8472 10y agoIt's an ozone-depletant, so you want a natural source. And algae naturally soak it up from sea water, so you don't have to extract it from minerals or anything like that. Plus I assume that it being part of the plant matters slows its release.
- wollstonecraft 10y agoThe algae produce it.
- ars 10y ago> It's an ozone-depletant, so you want a natural source. I read that line several times, and I can't figure out what one has to do with the other. The depletion effect doesn't change based on the source. > And algae naturally soak it up from sea water, so you don't have to extract it from minerals or anything like that. It's made from bromine, it's not a hard element to get a hold of. > Plus I assume that it being part of the plant matters slows its release. Slows the release in the cow, or after leaving the cow? Because we care only after leaving the cow, and at that point it has to have been released (in the cow) in order to function.
- m3kw9 10y agoIs methane from cows counted towards a deficit in the carbon trade?
- oli5679 10y agoA good solution would be for government to offer large rebates to farmers purchasing this as feed (ideally whilst reducing some other farming subsidy like CAP). Farmers would have an incentive to use, there shouldn't be large monitoring costs and should be cost effective
- dghughes 10y agoHey this is my province! There is a large veterinary sciences building as part of the university here. It would be great for the seaweed industry here too it used to produce Irish moss for carageenan, a thickening agent for food. But as it is with the Irish moss it will go to Asia tropical waters produce more seaweed.
- EGreg 10y agoThis is amazing... the beginning of ways to capture the carbon and methane before they are released!
- DavidSJ 10y agoIf you click on the agriculture tab, you see that cow farts account for 3% of US greenhouse gas emissions: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emis...
- GirlsCanCode 10y agoFood, in general, is one of the biggest producers of global-warming gasses. If we could only tackle the world's Obesity and overeating problem we could make a big dent in Global Warming.
- jstsch 10y agoYeah, this discovery has serious implications on fighting climate change, since methane emissions from cows is a large share of global co2e emissions. Interestingly, I heard that the particular seaweed that is effective is not commonly found in large amounts and does not grow by itself in open water. This means it either has to be farmed using novel techniques on the sea (like what northseafarm.com tries to do) or a new breed of seaweed has to be created (see hortimare.com). Cool stuff.
- disposablezero 10y agoLab-cultured meat is fast becoming cheaper and safer than growing subsidized crops (and all the water, diesel fuel and fertilizer that entails) and slaughtering an actual animal risking vCJD. Skip most of the climate change, animal cruelty and customer risks by growing something far more ethical and responsible.
- youdounderstand 10y agoWhat about lab-cultured cheese?
- return0 10y agoyou mean, normal cheese
- polskibus 10y agoCows fart methane even if they are just fed for milk. I'd rather have cow from milk than a synthetic substitute.
- user5994461 10y agoYou can also have milk from plants.
- exodust 10y agoI'd call that juice, not milk.
- vidarh 10y agoI keep trying milk substitutes. Not because I have any particular reason to switch away from milk, but because I find milk delicious and are curious about similar tasting drinks. So far, the ones I've found range from awful, to quite ok to drink but nothing like milk. For e.g. baking, the taste may matter less if they get the consistency right. But for drinking, I've yet to found any that I'd be willing to consider replacements for milk, though I've found a couple that I may buy now again because their quite different taste is a nice complement.
- disordinary 10y agoThis is huge news for New Zealand, one of the challenges that we face in meeting our climate change goals is the fact that a large part of our economy is based around agriculture, it's not as easy as replacing some coal power plants for us because 80-90% of our energy generation is green as it is. And it's also not easy for us to change the type of agriculture because the world does still need food. A lot of money is being spent on solving this problem.
- katzgrau 10y agoThere seems to be a lot of thoughtful, educated comments here, while all I'm thinking is: spontaneously combusting cows #southpark
- pvaldes 10y agoThat guy 'Billy Scientist' strikes again, taking all the credit for the work of Joe Dorgan and Rob Kinley
- pvaldes 10y agoYou can feed your goats 100 dollar bills and increase your goat production, but this plan have some gaps. What the article forgets to mention is that seaweed is a product valued in millions of dollars. And they create fragile ecosystems also that support a lot of juvenile fish, octopus and shellfish; wich are also expensive products. The delicious sea urchins depend entirely of seaweeds for example. On the other side, Asparagopsis taxiformis is an australian invasive species; so the idea of harvest it cuts both ways. Could be good (erradicate) or a big mistake (propagate even more). And you need to develop a selective extracion method. If you use all seaweeds to feed cattle, inland cows will have a fartastic life, but a lot of fishermen living in small coastal villages with poor soils will lost their jobs. Or maybe to synthetize the seaweed metabolites. Its life cycle is complicated. They are two different algae packed in one single species (Asparagopsis taxiformis and Falkenbergia hillebrandii). This is a problem if we want to culture it. We'll need to understand the delicate interactions and chemistry of the poisons of this plants and grant that no bad collateral effects will appear; i.e. Kill the intestinal flora that the cattle needs. Do you want to know another thing that could emit lots of metane? microscopic algae blooming after macroscopic algae vanished (and maybe a bunch of dead macroscopic algae drying at the sun?).
- banusaur 10y agoStop eating my planet. Stop eating beef and dairy.
- touristtam 10y agoIs this not the same story? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-19/environmental-concerns-cows-eating-seaweed/7946630 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-19/environmental-concerns...
- fruktstav 10y agoWell, thats great. Now we just need to find a feed for animals requiring about 200 lbs each day, without having the production of that feed adding to global warming. Good luck, meat eaters :)