Feeding Cows (& other livestock) a Little Seaweed Decreases Methane Emissions 99%!
Feeding cows seaweed as just 2% of their diet can decrease their methane emissions (aka burps and farts) by 99%! Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 21X more potent than CO2 by certain measures, so any strategy for decreasing emissions is a big deal. Globally, methane from ruminants (like cows) makes up 4-5% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Obviously, eating less meat could accomplish drastic emissions reductions also.
I recently saw this concept getting some press and remembered that the book Drawdown I helped research covered the idea as well. Drawdown mentions that seaweed has been used as livestock feed for thousands of years, so this isn't some new untested feed.
Seaweed (as part of Marine Permaculture) is being looked at as a climate solution in many ways since growing it removes CO2 from oceans, provides habitat for fish and other things people eat (people also eat seaweed), and apparently it can decrease emissions when incorporated into the diet of livestock. Seaweed is pretty nutritious, so it could have other benefits for cows as well.
http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/coming-attractions/cow-walks-beach
My question, then, is what happens to all of the methane that needs to be degassed from the living creatures? I don't imagine it totally changes the chemistry of the digestive track, but rather binds them up... leaving them constipated and in unpleasant state of being. I'm skeptical of such an idea, and hope it is tested extensively before advertised!
Great post, nonetheless. I'm excited about such ideas; I'm only skeptical by scientific background. I hope to see a follow up post in the future, if they can express further developments. Cheers (:
Thanks for the comment! Seaweed has been used as feed for some livestock for a long time, so it isn't some new crazy thing mad scientists are trying out for the first time, they are just now looking at methane emissions. "Ruminant methane accounts for 4 to 5 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Seaweed, which has been used as livestock feed for thousands of years, shows promise for reducing them."
That's exciting! I've also never considered that the domestication of animals for farming could come back and bite us in the butt in such a round about way! LOL. Thank you for your time (:
According to Machado et al in 2016, the overall nutrition of the rumen, quantified in vitro, has no apparent negative effects while methanogenesis is severely inhibited when 2% of the red seaweed Asparagopsis is added as a supplement in cows food.
And the effect of bromoform (molecule synthetised in high quantity by the red seaweed Asparagopsis) has shown same results (methanogenesis inhibition) in rumen fermentation of sheep in vivo (Lanigan 1972.
References:
Lanigan G (1972). Metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the ovine rumen. IV. Effects of chloral hydrate and halogenated methanes on rumen methanogenesis and alkaloid metabolism in fistulated sheep. Crop Pasture Sci 23:1085–1091
Machado, L., Magnusson, M., Paul, N. A., Kinley, R., de Nys, R., & Tomkins, N. (2016). Identification of bioactives from the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis that promote antimethanogenic activity in vitro. Journal of Applied Phycology, 28(5), 3117–3126.
Azolla plant was quite popular a while ago for livestock. I think research like this one will promote protein rich food like Azolla