3 ms·

FYI: "Feeding cows seaweed cuts 99% of greenhouse gas emissions from their burps, research finds" https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cows-seaweed-methane

by mazsa 8y ago

FYI: "Feeding cows seaweed cuts 99% of greenhouse gas emissions from their burps, research finds" https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cows-seaweed-methane-burps-cut-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change-research-a8368911.html https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cows-seaweed-metha...

kasey_junk 8y ago
But it does hardly anything got the carbon costs of their feed.
- mazsa 8y ago
  "hardly anything" = 80% of feed crops, foregone absorption of greenhouse gases (i.e. 32% of all of their carbon costs, cf. https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/54D2913D-11FD-4F76-8E61F6CA3450980D_source.jpg https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/54D29... )
  - chosenbreed37 8y ago
    Is the sourcing of seaweed in sufficient quantities free of cost?
    - philipkglass 8y ago
      The active anti-methane compound from seaweed is likely bromoform: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-016-0830-7 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-016-0830-7 It would be a cheap food supplement since the methane inhibition required only about 2% seaweed in cattle food, which in turn implies a bromoform feed content of only about 35 parts per million. Though no doubt some farmers would prefer to be able to say that they add seaweed rather than a particular chemical to their cattle feed.
    - mazsa 8y ago
      of course nothing is free but they think it may be feasible: https://www.symbrosiasolutions.com/team https://www.symbrosiasolutions.com/team
hannob 8y ago
I've read this cows/seaweed story now often enough that I looked into it. It seems it's all based on a study on 12 cows performed by UC Davis [1]. That is... not exactly confidence inspiring. It may very well be a statistical fluke and the reality is much less reassuring. Not saying we shouldn't research in that direction, but this looks way too early to be confident in it. [1] https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/news/research-led-ermias-kebreab-tests-if-seaweed-cuts-methane-emissions-dairy-farms https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/news/research-led-ermias-k...
- mazsa 8y ago
  I don't want to prevent you from testing on a larger sample:)

by mazsa 8y ago

kasey_junk 8y ago

But it does hardly anything got the carbon costs of their feed.

mazsa 8y ago
"hardly anything" = 80% of feed crops, foregone absorption of greenhouse gases (i.e. 32% of all of their carbon costs, cf. https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/54D2913D-11FD-4F76-8E61F6CA3450980D_source.jpg https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/54D29... )
- chosenbreed37 8y ago
  Is the sourcing of seaweed in sufficient quantities free of cost?
  - philipkglass 8y ago
    The active anti-methane compound from seaweed is likely bromoform: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-016-0830-7 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-016-0830-7 It would be a cheap food supplement since the methane inhibition required only about 2% seaweed in cattle food, which in turn implies a bromoform feed content of only about 35 parts per million. Though no doubt some farmers would prefer to be able to say that they add seaweed rather than a particular chemical to their cattle feed.
  - mazsa 8y ago
    of course nothing is free but they think it may be feasible: https://www.symbrosiasolutions.com/team https://www.symbrosiasolutions.com/team

hannob 8y ago

I've read this cows/seaweed story now often enough that I looked into it. It seems it's all based on a study on 12 cows performed by UC Davis [1]. That is... not exactly confidence inspiring. It may very well be a statistical fluke and the reality is much less reassuring. Not saying we shouldn't research in that direction, but this looks way too early to be confident in it. [1] https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/news/research-led-ermias-kebreab-tests-if-seaweed-cuts-methane-emissions-dairy-farms https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/news/research-led-ermias-k...

mazsa 8y ago
I don't want to prevent you from testing on a larger sample:)