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Seaweed Could Make Cows Burp Less Methane and Cut Their Carbon Hoofprint (technologyreview.com)
A diet supplemented with red algae could lessen the huge amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by cows and sheep, if we can just figure out how to grow enough. From a report: In a wooden barn on the edge of campus at the University of California, Davis, cattle line up at their assigned feed slots to snatch mouthfuls of alfalfa hay. This past spring, several of these Holstein dairy cows participated in a study to test a promising path to reducing methane emissions from livestock, a huge source of the greenhouse gases driving climate change. By adding a small amount of seaweed to the animals' feed, researchers found, they could cut the cows' methane production by nearly 60%. Each year, livestock production pumps out greenhouse gases with the equivalent warming effect of more than 7 gigatons of carbon dioxide, roughly the same global impact as the transportation industry. Nearly 40% of that is produced during digestion: cattle, goats, and sheep belch and pass methane, a highly potent, albeit relatively short-lived, greenhouse gas.
If the reductions achieved in the UC Davis study could be applied across the worldwide livestock industry, it would eliminate nearly 2 gigatons of those emissions annually -- about a quarter of United States' total climate pollution each year. Ermias Kebreab, an animal science professor at UC Davis who leads the work, is preparing to undertake a more ambitious study in the months ahead, evaluating whether smaller amounts of a more potent form of seaweed can cut methane emissions even further. Meanwhile, some businesses have begun to explore what could be the harder challenge: Growing it on a massive scale.
If the reductions achieved in the UC Davis study could be applied across the worldwide livestock industry, it would eliminate nearly 2 gigatons of those emissions annually -- about a quarter of United States' total climate pollution each year. Ermias Kebreab, an animal science professor at UC Davis who leads the work, is preparing to undertake a more ambitious study in the months ahead, evaluating whether smaller amounts of a more potent form of seaweed can cut methane emissions even further. Meanwhile, some businesses have begun to explore what could be the harder challenge: Growing it on a massive scale.
See subject: I'm so sick & tired of /. BULLIES. You shitweasels have nothing better to do than HARASS, STALK & IMPERSONATE little ol' me. I've done absolutely NOTHING wrong & just try to make everyone's lives better w/ my work that stops ads & malware.
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I caught viperidaenz & webmistressrachel IMPERSONATING me too. The OLD HAG knows nothing about computers and LIES about me instead. This is one sick in the head IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP bitch, no questions asked. You wish you were me & that's why you IMPERSONATE & ATTACK me.
I'm even improving my already GREAT PHYSIQUE & SUPERIOR INTELLECT while you weezils sit around all day on /. STALKING & HARASSING your BETTERS. I repeatedly dust the no-mind bullshit blatherings you BULLIES post to attack me. Like always I WIN & YOU LOSE.
APK
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What's the half life of methane?
No more fucking around with half measures or tolerance, find and end this nazi faggot c6gummer with his own extreme prejudice. HANG THE NAZI TRAITORS FROM THEIR FAGGOT NECKS, AMERICA IS GREATER FOR IT AMEN HU-RAH
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APK
P.S.=> I KNOW the 2nd to last link above's KILLING YOU - YOU ACTUALLY HELPED ME getting me to see if hosts stop more than portsmash (& Meltdown + Spectre too) & "lo & behold" - hosts WORK on 'em - U LOSE... apk
If the reductions achieved in the UC Davis study could be applied across the worldwide livestock industry, ...
Applied *worldwide"? That's a pretty big undertaking - and a LOT of seaweed routinely grown and, probably, shipped as a feed additive.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
"Not as clumsy/random as a blaster - An elegant weapon 4 a more civilized age" https://it.slashdot.org/commen...
* "For over a 1,000 generations Jedi Knights were guardians of peace & justice in the old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the EMPIRE"
(NOT "wannabe weapons" of TROLL shitlords on /. like ZIP https://it.slashdot.org/commen... - theirs = effete downmods I RUN 'EM DRY OF & lies & WHY they LOSE).
APK
P.S.=> Many here know https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & enjoy greater speed/security/reliability & anonymity hosts yield natively speeding you up 2 ways (adblocks & hardcodes that protect vs. DNS security issues in redirect poisoning + request tracking logs & RESOLVE FASTER locally from RAM driven by KERNELMODE speed vs. slow usermode in "solutions" packed w/ security issues (DNS/Antivirus) OR not working fully by default (adblock) in usermode addons easily detected by webmasters & blocked doing less but using more)... apk
At least not naturally. Will Whole Foods but my products?
We already went over this before on Slashdot. Even if you scraped all the seaweed from the sea floor, there still wouldn't be nearly enough for all the cows. The solution is to engineer something to feed the cattle or the people (that doesn't come from cattle).
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Why isn't it better to collect the methane and use it to, oh, I dunno, heat the milking barn with it?
No more fucking around with half measures or tolerance, find and end this nazi faggot c6gummer with his own extreme prejudice. HANG THE NAZI TRAITORS FROM THEIR FAGGOT NECKS, AMERICA IS GREATER FOR IT AMEN HU-RAH
Cut their carbon hoofprint. Whoever wrote this must think they are fucking hilarious.
I do believe I've seen articles like this highlighted on Slashdot before. Feeding seaweed to cattle for the purpose of reducing their methane production seems to come up again and again, and still no closer to any real production to where it might actually have any real impact on the environment.
If California wants to reduce methane emissions then I have a few suggestions. The first that comes to mind is allow for more off shore drilling for oil and gas. The oil and gas is just seeping out from the sea floor and unless it is drilled and diverted into fuel then it ends up as methane in the air, either as-is or as more complex hydrocarbons break down in the sun while floating on the water or washed up as tar on the beaches. Burning methane to turn it into CO2 is still adding a greenhouse gas but it's also removing that methane from the air, where it's a more potent greenhouse gas, and turning it into useful energy and the less potent CO2.
The second thing that comes to mind is California needs more nuclear power. That natural gas is a nice fuel for load following generators and use in metro buses but California gets a lot of electricity from burning natural gas. Use nuclear power for base load power to replace the coal and natural gas.
I know someone is going to jump up and down on how solar power is cheap in California and how they don't need nuclear power. That is provably false. Solar power is cheap only if the costs of matching electric demands to solar power supply are ignored. Solar power is exceedingly expensive if there is no hydro or natural gas to do this load matching. California might have a lot of hydro but not enough, unless the entire Silicon Valley is flooded for a hydro electric basin.
This feeding methane to cattle has been proposed before and it always runs into the same problem. California is trying real hard to create their own reality where the cattle eat seaweed and the electricity comes from the sun. Well, reality bites and there is no future for Silicon Valley without nuclear power.
No more fucking around with half measures or tolerance, find and end this nazi faggot c6gummer with his own extreme prejudice. HANG THE NAZI TRAITORS FROM THEIR FAGGOT NECKS, AMERICA IS GREATER FOR IT AMEN HU-RAH!
This was studied by a Canadian researcher, who later moved to Australia? See 2016 blog post here: https://blog.csiro.au/seaweed-hold-key-cutting-methane-emissions-cow-burps/ Maybe fully synthetic beef is a better idea - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWtEVbrNdI8&t=158s?
But after Thanksgiving I'm putting off an excess of methane as well.
Where exactly can I go and get some of this stuff so I can do my part for the environment?
Thanks c6gummer, nobody suspects you're the nazi faggot marked for death above.
https://news.slashdot.org/stor...
OK, well maybe, but we do have a bit of a better understanding now, and beef increases the risk of bowel cancer anyway. Maybe try watching the video and see what actually goes into that particular type - pretty much stuff you already eat...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Do you have any idea how far the Gulf of Mexico is from "Caribbean Nations" and how much mixing the ocean does by the time it gets there? Sargasso blooms happen, the OCEAN CURRENTS CHANGING is responsible for the dumping.
There's no connection between the excess fertilizer of the Gulf, bad as it is for the Gulf(!), on Caribbean national shores. It'd be so miniscule it can be ruled out. Do the math.
gweihir KNOWS u IMPERSONATE me https://it.slashdot.org/commen... c6gunner proves it https://linux.slashdot.org/com... he forgot to SUBMIT as AC & using his registered 'lusrname' instead (because he tried to mock me both BEFORE & after I FAIRLY challenged him to show he's done better work - he had ZERO).
& NO WAY I'd "cry" like you "playing victim ne'er-do-wells" on /. (TROLL /.ers, not all) OR post on hosts offtopic.
YOU HELPED ME https://science.slashdot.org/c... (& you quit trying to make me look bad trying to "tell lies" on hosts as "ME" IN YOUR IMPERSONATIONS of me e.g. https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... as regards Intel speculative execution attack? Hosts PREVENT 'EM)
APK
P.S.=> I KNOW the 2nd to last link above's KILLING YOU - YOU ACTUALLY HELPED ME getting me to see if hosts stop more than portsmash (& Meltdown + Spectre too) & "lo & behold" - hosts WORK on 'em - U LOSE ... apk
"Not as clumsy/random as a blaster - An elegant weapon 4 a more civilized age" https://it.slashdot.org/commen...
* "For over a 1,000 generations Jedi Knights were guardians of peace & justice in the old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the EMPIRE"
(NOT "wannabe weapons" of TROLL shitlords on /. like ZIP https://it.slashdot.org/commen... - theirs = effete downmods I RUN 'EM DRY OF & lies & WHY they LOSE).
APK
P.S.=> Many here know https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & enjoy greater speed/security/reliability & anonymity hosts yield natively speeding you up 2 ways (adblocks & hardcodes that protect vs. DNS security issues in redirect poisoning + request tracking logs & RESOLVE FASTER locally from RAM driven by KERNELMODE speed vs. slow usermode in "solutions" packed w/ security issues (DNS/Antivirus) OR not working fully by default (adblock) in usermode addons easily detected by webmasters & blocked doing less but using more)... apk
Must be a MLP:FiM reference. Or perhaps Fallout: Equestria reference.
Well, it's at least a reference to some pop culture cartoon-like world where sapients are four-legged, and still able to manipulate items quite well.
Cows do not eat coal. Because the carbon that cows are belching now was pulled out of the atmosphere last year,â(TM)the cattle methane issue is, well, bullshit.
So, just because they can and will eat seaweed gives zero indication it will be any good for the cows.
Do you have any idea how far the ozone hole is (both in distance and time) from most users of chlorofluorocarbons? How far the great pacific garbage patch is from where people are improperly disposing of all that plastic? Do you have any numbers on how much dilution actually occurs in that environment? That might be more believable.
...burping and farting, same as us!
So they can get their own seaweed.
https://lachefnet.wordpress.co...
"Tempers are wearing thin. Let's just hope some robot doesn't kill everybody." --Bender
In addition, there isn't enough seaweed to feed all the cows and the cost is a big factor. This would have to be mandated in a big way to even make a dent.... Sure they can isolate the specifics to bring down costs and create something cheaper but without mandating it there is a snowball's chance in hell.
The reality is that we will just have to TAX meat by warming impact and only the people who can afford it will eat a lot of it. This wouldn't be different than truffles etc.
BTW, global warming is going to price more people out of products like truffles or natural coffee (which is already being padded with fillers.) To create a direct artificial cost burden on a product is a political hurdle but we are indirectly forcing price hikes on thousands of other products as supply dwindles... due to in part to us not limiting meat production... Arguably, we are subsidizing meat at the price of everything else because we aren't smart enough to see we MUST choose winners and losers. Doing nothing is a choice. You see meat prices now, adjust to your budget if it actually impacts you and bitch regardless... but you'll not think of all the other costs down the road that are staring you in the face at this moment.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Except the ozone is in a much higher part of the atmosphere, where large stratus layers settle over time and there's actually little mixing compared to the lower zones. It's not a great comparison.
From the dire threat of cow farts? People will come up with any excuse to avoid real work. Those types elect politicians to give them healthcare and everything else because they refuse to do an honest day's work.
Captcga: menial
Yes there is seawwed out there, stop looking for ways to use and abuse it so you can justify raping the sea even more.
Feeding cattle corn is one of the main problems. It screws up bovine digestion, increasing gas production and bacterial infection in cows, particularly E. coli.
Corn is great for making cows fat but bad for the environment.
>"Most bacteria are killed by the acid of stomach juice, but E. coli from grain-fed cattle are resistant to strong acids," explains James B. Russell, a USDA microbiologist and faculty member of the Cornell Section of Microbiology. "When people eat foods contaminated with acid-resistant E. coli -- including pathogenic strains like O157:H7 -- the chance of getting sick increases."
This E. coli is associated with greater gas production.
Increased corn in the bovine diet is associated with increased E. coli infection .
Now I know why Americans destroyed Buffalo herds... They was afraid of methane.... Stupid American ediots... The the stupider with his multimillion Fondation.. Bill
Cow flatulence, according to the article, is responsible for as much greenhouse gas emmissions as the transportation industry. Without changing the diets of cattle, or forcing everyone to drive electric cars, carbon dioxide emissions could be cut in half by combining these two things so that the same objectives are achieved by a single action instead of two:
RIDE COWS!
Look at the situation. We have like, billions of cows, most of them standing around doing NOTHING. We, as a society, produce X gigatons of CO2 moving stuff around, while the cows farting also produces roughly X gigatons of the same gas in the same amount of time, resulting in a total of 2 * X gigatons of CO2 per time period.
If, however, we all abandoned our cars and trucks, and just rode cows, we could ELIMINATE X gigatons of CO2, just by doing that. PLUS, as a free bonus, EVERYONE gets heated leather seats to ride around on, no more cheap, shitty vinyl or cloth seats! AND If your ride ever breaks down, instead of calling AAA or a tow service and paying hundreds of dollars, you just call your nearest friend, who rides his cow out, bringing his wife and kids, plus a BIG ‘OL BUCKET of BBQ sauce and some fire wood, and instead of your day being ruined, you get barbeque BURGERS and STEAKS! IT’S A WIN-WIN, FOLKS!
IF your cow was lactating at the time she broke down, guess what? You get milkshakes to wash those burgers down with! You know it’s the right thing to do! Write your member of congress or senator, or preferably both, and DEMAND we eliminate all gasoline and diesel-powered cars and trucks from America’s highways and bighways, and replace them with good ‘ol BESSY!
Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
As anybody who hunts and eats deer will tell you, the flavor of the meat of an animal is affected by what it eats; deer that steal their meals from farmer's fields taste very different from their much-less-delicious counterparts who dine amonst the pine trees.
I have certainly not run this experiment with beef and seaweed, but I'd not be surprised if the resulting cheeseburger took on a decidedly fishy flavor (ugh).
Destroying the flavor of a burger to save ther planet is problematic - life might not be worth living in such a saved world. Perhaps we could achieve the same carbon suppression by eliminateing all the global warming fanatics? After all, they are the ones who insist that the stuff they are doing is destorying the planet. We could start by just banning them from flying private jets to luxury vacation spots to hold glitsy climate change conferences.
Yes target meat production and not the larger polluter of global rice production.
"Flooded rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation has been identified as one of the leading global agricultural sources of anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions. Furthermore, it has been estimated that global rice production is responsible for 11% of total anthropogenic CH4 emissions. Considering that CH4 has a global warming potential that is approximately 25 times more potent, on a mass basis, than carbon dioxide (CO2) and rice production is globally extensive "
https://www.intechopen.com/books/greenhouse-gases/methane-emissions-from-rice-production-in-the-united-states-a-review-of-controlling-factors-and-summ
Get this bullshit off Slashdot