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Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

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Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#21

Post by 1234fdsazxcv »

cesnja wrote: post #19
scns wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without excrement from animals you need synthetic fertilizer, whose production causes massive production causes massive environmental damage eg emissions and algae bloom.

There's also the "classic" option, discovered some 200 years before synthetic fertilizers - crop rotation that includes some form of legumes. IMO with the current state of agriculture and food production we went into a local maximum that is very unsustainable and bad for the environment.

There's a reason we had to switch away from that. The crop rotation cycle isn't an efficient use of land. Synthetic fertilizers exist for a reason -- the human race wants and needs an excess of food. No one wants to switch to a model of food scarcity.

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#22

Post by 1234fdsazxcv »

awerawerawrjhui wrote: post #10
leipert wrote: post #8

Discussed last year hacker news: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20711498 I was very skeptical whether this is scalable as up to two percent of the cows feed needs to be replaced with the sea weed and we simply do not produce sea weed at scale yet: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20713552 The TL;DR was: in order to supply 1.5 billion cows with the seaweed we might need up to 291.000 metric tons of algae per…

> I would argue that the most effective way to reduce cattle emissions is to get rid of cattle. I agree, but as a former vegan I'm aware that there's an approximately 0% chance of getting a majority of the world's population to give up beef and dairy. The future has to be with lab-grown meat. I know the technology is still nascent, but if we ever get it right then it has the potential to be one of the most transforma…

This is market forces at work. Regulations and environmental science used to help to define the rules of the market are really a useful way to allocate resources. Worry less about telling people what they should do. Instead, think about how we can construct market rules to incentivize good behavior.

At least that's my two cents. It's fun to talk to friends about how to fix the world with a central planning mindset but there are a lot of smart people out there. Let them do their thing. Today's fads (lab grown meat) may or may not work out. Maybe the best solution hasn't come along yet.

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#23

Post by totetsu »

scns wrote: post #18
seanwilson wrote: post #11

How much could this reduce the total environmental food print of cattle? I.e. including all the energy used to grow the crops they eat, the deforestation to make room for the crops + cattle, the waste the cows produce. Animal farming creates vast damage because of how inefficient it is and seaweed won't address how much feed cows need or that the world is eating more and more meat as countries get richer: > The energ…

Without excrement from animals you need synthetic fertilizer, whose production causes massive production causes massive environmental damage eg emissions and algae bloom.

Last time I checked everybody I know is an fertilizer excreting animal..

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#24

Post by rozab »

scns wrote: post #18
seanwilson wrote: post #11

How much could this reduce the total environmental food print of cattle? I.e. including all the energy used to grow the crops they eat, the deforestation to make room for the crops + cattle, the waste the cows produce. Animal farming creates vast damage because of how inefficient it is and seaweed won't address how much feed cows need or that the world is eating more and more meat as countries get richer: > The energ…

Without excrement from animals you need synthetic fertilizer, whose production causes massive production causes massive environmental damage eg emissions and algae bloom.

But without animals you don't need nearly as much crops... Cattle do not come close to breaking even in this sense

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#26

Post by tarsinge »

1234fdsazxcv wrote: post #21
cesnja wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the "classic" option, discovered some 200 years before synthetic fertilizers - crop rotation that includes some form of legumes. IMO with the current state of agriculture and food production we went into a local maximum that is very unsustainable and bad for the environment.

There's a reason we had to switch away from that. The crop rotation cycle isn't an efficient use of land. Synthetic fertilizers exist for a reason -- the human race wants and needs an excess of food. No one wants to switch to a model of food scarcity.

The point is that if the food is not meat we need like up to 75% less crops, which is completely attainable without synthetic fertilizer.

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#27

Post by austhrow743 »

headmelted wrote: post #7
nickff wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you were just joking, but methane itself is odorless, which is why odorants are added to make natural gas easily detectable.

I was just joking, but you've ruined it now with your facts. Happy? ( this is also a joke so don't worry :-) )

Potentially that means the cow farts would become stinkier, which is an even funnier conversation. Joke still works!

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#28

Post by cik »

seanwilson wrote: post #11

How much could this reduce the total environmental food print of cattle? I.e. including all the energy used to grow the crops they eat, the deforestation to make room for the crops + cattle, the waste the cows produce. Animal farming creates vast damage because of how inefficient it is and seaweed won't address how much feed cows need or that the world is eating more and more meat as countries get richer: > The energ…

At the end of the day this is signalling. We all know that the best thing we can do is eat a local, veg-friendly (vegetarian/vegan) diet. That also doesn't mean that people are going to do it, or can. But at least it's one form of a step in the right direction.

War doesn't have to be waged and won in a single battle. Every little step helps if it truly reduces emissions.

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#29

Post by bryanrasmussen »

totetsu wrote: post #23
scns wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without excrement from animals you need synthetic fertilizer, whose production causes massive production causes massive environmental damage eg emissions and algae bloom.

Last time I checked everybody I know is an fertilizer excreting animal..

it's because they're all made from meat.

Re: Australia to produce seaweed cattle feed that reduces methane emissions by 80%

#30

Post by ekianjo »

tarsinge wrote: post #26
1234fdsazxcv wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason we had to switch away from that. The crop rotation cycle isn't an efficient use of land. Synthetic fertilizers exist for a reason -- the human race wants and needs an excess of food. No one wants to switch to a model of food scarcity.

The point is that if the food is not meat we need like up to 75% less crops, which is completely attainable without synthetic fertilizer.

Claiming it does not make it so.
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