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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

#91

Post by Frenchgeek »

sc4th1s wrote: post #90
toomuchtodo wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here. Your assuming I'd stay in tech to arbitrage the wage gap to give altruistically. You discount that maybe working in tech isn't what makes me happy (disclaimer: I like my current gig because of the people I get to work with, but nothing is forever), farming seaweed from my 41 foot catamaran (now depreciable as a business expense if commercially farming seaweed) might make me happier after working in tech for…

could you tell me more about using a boat for seaweed farming?

The hard part is figuring out how to make the plough float.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#92

Post by jstsch »

Yeah, this discovery has serious implications on fighting climate change, since methane emissions from cows is a large share of global co2e emissions.

Interestingly, I heard that the particular seaweed that is effective is not commonly found in large amounts and does not grow by itself in open water. This means it either has to be farmed using novel techniques on the sea (like what northseafarm.com tries to do) or a new breed of seaweed has to be created (see hortimare.com). Cool stuff.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#93

Post by jstsch »

mrob wrote: post #10
M_Grey wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the seaweed itself would take up some CO2 during growth... so you have that bonus too. I'd guess the major costs would come during transport.

Seaweed dries and rehydrates well, and like all vegetables it's mostly water, so if it's grown somewhere where it can be sun-dried then total energy cost for transport could be low.

Also, seaweed is a good source of protein, which for cows tends to come from (imported) soy or corn.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#94

Post by disposablezero »

Lab-cultured meat is fast becoming cheaper and safer than growing subsidized crops (and all the water, diesel fuel and fertilizer that entails) and slaughtering an actual animal risking vCJD. Skip most of the climate change, animal cruelty and customer risks by growing something far more ethical and responsible.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#95

Post by youdounderstand »

disposablezero wrote: post #94

Lab-cultured meat is fast becoming cheaper and safer than growing subsidized crops (and all the water, diesel fuel and fertilizer that entails) and slaughtering an actual animal risking vCJD. Skip most of the climate change, animal cruelty and customer risks by growing something far more ethical and responsible.

What about lab-cultured cheese?

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#96

Post by return0 »

youdounderstand wrote: post #95
disposablezero wrote: post #94

Lab-cultured meat is fast becoming cheaper and safer than growing subsidized crops (and all the water, diesel fuel and fertilizer that entails) and slaughtering an actual animal risking vCJD. Skip most of the climate change, animal cruelty and customer risks by growing something far more ethical and responsible.

What about lab-cultured cheese?

you mean, normal cheese

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#97

Post by return0 »

viridian wrote: post #12
lucio wrote: post #11

How relevant are cow farts in global warming? is there a percent figure? as in cows contribute x% of gas emissions

16.5% of methane emissions, give or take. If you could further apply this to all livestock, it's around 30%.

wow thats an insane number

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#98

Post by jessaustin »

ogrisel wrote: post #65
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_...

At first I was confused... thanks for pointing out that this study is totally impractical.

Cattle, like most ruminants, rely on the fermentation of cellulose for most of their energy needs. Any feed additive that shuts down this process will result in malnourished cattle, and is unlikely to see broad adoption in the industry. Luckily for the PEI farmer, the seaweed he used didn't have this effect.

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#99

Post by TulliusCicero »

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.

> 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.

Couldn't you look at it as a vanguard thing? Like, once the public is more used to the idea because it's been on the market in some form, it's easier to mandate it?

Re: Scientist discovers particular seaweed nearly eliminates cow methane emissions

#100

Post by polskibus »

disposablezero wrote: post #94

Lab-cultured meat is fast becoming cheaper and safer than growing subsidized crops (and all the water, diesel fuel and fertilizer that entails) and slaughtering an actual animal risking vCJD. Skip most of the climate change, animal cruelty and customer risks by growing something far more ethical and responsible.

Cows fart methane even if they are just fed for milk. I'd rather have cow from milk than a synthetic substitute.
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