3 ms·
Article from Wired on why algae isn't the silver bullet it's marketed as: https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-neutral-cows-algae/ https://www.wired.com/story/car
by headbee 6y ago
Article from Wired on why algae isn't the silver bullet it's marketed as: https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-neutral-cows-algae/ https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-neutral-cows-algae/
Essentially, it's only useful for pasture raised cows (soy and corn fed feedlot cows already produce a fraction of the methane) and there's no practical way to add algae to pasture raised cows' diets. They also speculate that cows' microbiomes will adapt to the algae.
- pavedwalden 6y agoThanks for supplying the fact-check I was looking for. I think I've been seeing headlines about this "discovery" for over a decade, always presented as if it's a promising new technique but obviously there must be some reason it hasn't caught on by now.
- asciimo 6y ago"I can keep eating steak because Science is about to solve that problem..."
- wyre 6y agoSame. I would think at this point there would be companies focused on algae production for ruminants. AFAIK there is only one company in Australia that is doing this. I haven’t read the Wired article yet but my critique is that there isn’t enough seaweed being farmed to adequately enrich a significant cattle population and all this headline does is relax self-judgement of environmentally-conscious meat eaters.
- thescriptkiddie 6y agoIf we're going to continue to have cattle, pasture raised is the only way to do it. Feedlots are not just devastating to the environment, they are inhumane on a level that is difficult to even conceive.