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Can Cow Backpacks Reduce Global Methane Emissions? (bloomberg.com)
Slashdot reader schwit1 shares an article from Bloomberg which argues "It's time to have a conversation about flatulent cows."
"Enteric fermentation," or livestock's digestive process, accounts for 22 percent of all U.S. methane emissions, and the manure they produce makes up eight percent more, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... Methane, like carbon, is a greenhouse gas, but methane's global warming impact per molecule is 25 times greater than carbon's, according to the EPA.
Cargill has tried capturing some of the methane released from cow manure by using domed lagoons, while researchers at Danone yogurt discovered they could reduce methane emissions up to 30% by feeding cows a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids (mostly from flax seed). But now Argentina researchers are testing plastic "methane backpacks" which they strap on to the back of cows, and according to the article "have been able to extract 300 liters of methane a day, enough to power a car or refrigerator."
Cargill has tried capturing some of the methane released from cow manure by using domed lagoons, while researchers at Danone yogurt discovered they could reduce methane emissions up to 30% by feeding cows a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids (mostly from flax seed). But now Argentina researchers are testing plastic "methane backpacks" which they strap on to the back of cows, and according to the article "have been able to extract 300 liters of methane a day, enough to power a car or refrigerator."
Maybe you should learn not to jump to conclusions lest you show yourself to be the moron.
The backpack manages to capture and collect the gases emitted through the cow’s mouth or intestinal tract via a tube inserted through the cow’s skin (which the researchers claim is painless).
It still sounds like a lot of stress for the cows. Their lives are miserable enough, adding this stuff would only make matters worse for them. Stress for a cow probably means less milk yield, and a longer growth period before it is ripe for McDonald's. Hell, it's like developing colostomy bags for cows.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
We all know the backpack idea is bullshit, but at least it is raising some serious discussion about the scale of pollution due to industrial agriculture. The only solution is to cut back on meat consumption, but Cargill won't be issuing that in a press release any time soon.
EPA "Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions"
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#agriculture
According to the estimates of the INPE researchers, dams are the largest single anthropogenic source of methane, being responsible for 23% of all methane emissions due to human activities.
https://www.internationalriver...
Thus irrigation for crops is worse on the environment than cows.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Australian researchers have developed an inoculation against some of the most common methanogenic bacteria found in sheep, supposedly reducing their methane output by about a third. It also makes a small amount of extra food available for the sheep to utilize. I don't know if this has made it out of the laboratory and into farms as yet (if ever).