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Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

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Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#61

Post by DonHopkins »

chillydawg wrote: post #21
jdavis703 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and that's not going to happen soon. But companies can start marketing their products as carbon neutral and selling them at a premium at retailers like Whole Foods.

The biggest producers are and will always be the mass market stuff, though. Who cares if 1% of beef is produced carbon neutral? It's nice, but it makes no tangible difference. Sadly this method of encouraging better behaviour won't work unless a costco or a mcdonalds, for some insane reason, wants to cut their profit margin and buy more expensive beef.

If "low carb" and "gluton free" diets can be fads, then "fart free meat" can be a fad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQBrhfN4uYc

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#62

Post by cbr »

jessriedel wrote: post #34
chillydawg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest producers are and will always be the mass market stuff, though. Who cares if 1% of beef is produced carbon neutral? It's nice, but it makes no tangible difference. Sadly this method of encouraging better behaviour won't work unless a costco or a mcdonalds, for some insane reason, wants to cut their profit margin and buy more expensive beef.

Like how it would be insane of McDonald's to unilaterally agree to use cage-free eggs?

(referencing http://news.mcdonalds.com/corporate/news-stories/2013/mcdona... )

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#63

Post by tim333 »

vidarh wrote: post #41
tim333 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an interesting puzzle as to how you'd monitor something like that for a global warming tax. Random cow inspections? Some kind of satellite thing?

Add a default per-cow tax, and deduct from it for purchase of a seaweed feed, and make it bite sufficiently that it becomes substantially cheaper to include seaweed in the feed. This is how Norway encourages bottle recycling: There's no law mandating recycling of bottles, but there's a substantial tax on beverage containers that you get a reduction of in proportion to your return rate. This has resulted in a return r…

I guess that could work.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#65

Post by ogrisel »

the8472 wrote: post #5

Does that require the cows to be entirely fed on the seaweed or does it work as part of a mixture? Edit: found the paper: https://sci-hub.ac/10.1071/AN15576 According to figure 2 it looks like 2-10% of the feed is sufficient to achieve near-total methane reduction and <5% does not negatively affect digestibility, so 2-5% is the sweet spot.

Note that this study is about "in vitro" analysis. High iodine contents and toxic compounds might make this algae not suitable as bovine fodder.

Furthermore this is tropical algae and it traditionally hand harvested making it very expensive to produce. I don't know if it could be mass produced in sea farms.

Source:

http://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Asparagopsis_taxiformis_...

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#66

Post by ElKoji »

tankenmate wrote: post #48
ElKoji wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking your butcher for "zero carbon" cow is pointless, I agree, it is also the equivalent of attempting to avoid buying things with "huge" carbon footprints (like everything that has plastic on it which is pretty much everything useful), much like buying in artisanal shops, or asking for "grass fed beef" or "free range eggs", it is all highly inefficient which is a problem with our growing population. They are all l…

Except that meat has been part of the human diet before we were even human, and evolution has adapted us to be omnivores. The human body can't produce a number of amino acids any more, a number of which are most easily sourced from the bodies of animals that can produce them (most of which are herbivores). For example Lysine and Methionine are easier to acquire from meat than vegetables; especially if you aren't burn…

It is easier for moat people to live with fossil fuel so it is preferable right? I'm going to pass on the tired discussion of meat is what we're meant to eat because we've been going it forever. Bottom line is you CAN live without meat, it is perfectly healthy so it comes down to a choice. Now my original point was that having this half measures that require constant policing from both the consumer and industries is harder than cutting down something you don't need for good. Both routes require an equal amount of convincing of people, from eating less meat to using your car less or buying particular types of products over others are changes that most people are not ready or willing to accept and most likely won't come to full fruition until a couple generations down the line (regardless of the route) but you can start one yourself that requires no action from increasingly hostile politicians or corporation whose sole purpose of existence is in direct contradiction with the objective. As it is said, you vote with your money. Also if a tax was to be put on hugely polluting industries it'd be self-defeating to not tax meat and dairy.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#67

Post by Retric »

gmac wrote: post #53
mrfusion wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're talking about methane not carbon.

Carbon neutral is essentially shorthand for doesn't contribute to climate change . Methane (a) contains carbon and (b) is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

> More potent

Only in the short term.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#68

Post by heisenbit »

mrob wrote: post #60
heisenbit wrote: post #28

If seaweed eliminates methane it likely will affect some gut bacteria more than others. We would not blindly swallow antibiotics affecting what is happening in our gut. There will be side effects one way or another - usually the more effect the more side effect. Seaweed is worth studying and has promise but I'm skeptical when it comes super food claims.

Seaweed has a long history of human consumption without adverse effects, so I don't see why it should do any harm to cows, especially at 2 to 5% of diet.

Seaweed has a long history of human consumption that may be true. But so has milk and only part of the adult human population can handle it.

We are only at the beginning of understanding how the gut micro-biome relates to human and animal health. Possibilities for complications exist e.g.

- Methane production keeps parasites in check

- Methane producing bacteria may be part of a synthesis chain for a specific nutrient.

- Recalibration of blood health indicator values

There are always risks in scaling up things to population levels. The history is full of them. Soylent recently ran into some problems. Gut biology is not an area where things are very predictable.

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