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Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

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Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#11

Post by wyre »

atlasy1 wrote: post #8
jhbadger wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so insane given that they are far more numerous due to agriculture than they would be as wild animals. This ultimately is a human-caused problem not a natural one. And there is the issue that what we feed livestock affects how much gas they produce. It's a serious research topic https://clear.ucdavis.edu/explainers/why-do-cattle-produce-m...

Thank you for raising this valid issue. Ruminant methane output has been reduced by 98.8% with the addition of a compound from seaweed to the animals food. You are a small bit behind the science but thanks to people like you raising awareness we solved the problem!

It’s not a solved problem. This is a hyperbole less accurate than saying vehicle emissions are a solved problem because EV’s exist. Seaweed is not a widespread additive in cattle feed and global production of seaweed would need to drastically increase to handle demand. There is also a plethora of other factors to consider with the increased farming of seaweed and the dietary changes that make adding seaweed to a cows diet anything but a “solved problem”

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/arti...

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#12

Post by atlasy1 »

wyre wrote: post #11
atlasy1 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for raising this valid issue. Ruminant methane output has been reduced by 98.8% with the addition of a compound from seaweed to the animals food. You are a small bit behind the science but thanks to people like you raising awareness we solved the problem!

It’s not a solved problem. This is a hyperbole less accurate than saying vehicle emissions are a solved problem because EV’s exist. Seaweed is not a widespread additive in cattle feed and global production of seaweed would need to drastically increase to handle demand. There is also a plethora of other factors to consider with the increased farming of seaweed and the dietary changes that make adding seaweed to a cows…

You can think of it as similar to a human taking a cheap charcoal tablet with their food to reduce flatulance. They will not take such a tablet until they are aware they have gastritis. When enough pressure is applied the solution will be implemented.

Only a small part of the animals feed needs to be seaweed and thankfully it is one of the easiest and fastest growing organisms on the planet. So it’s extremely cheap for the industry to adopt the solution when compared to facing losses related to carbon taxes and loss of market share.

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#14

Post by ygjb »

atlasy1 wrote: post #8
jhbadger wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so insane given that they are far more numerous due to agriculture than they would be as wild animals. This ultimately is a human-caused problem not a natural one. And there is the issue that what we feed livestock affects how much gas they produce. It's a serious research topic https://clear.ucdavis.edu/explainers/why-do-cattle-produce-m...

Thank you for raising this valid issue. Ruminant methane output has been reduced by 98.8% with the addition of a compound from seaweed to the animals food. You are a small bit behind the science but thanks to people like you raising awareness we solved the problem!

This is a potential solution, but the problem isn't solved until the market actually adopts it.

Without a financial incentive to follow through (for example, a carbon tax on gassy animals) to offset the added cost of feed supplements, then most farms won't see the business justification (carbon footprint is largely externalized).

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#15

Post by atlasy1 »

ygjb wrote: post #14
atlasy1 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for raising this valid issue. Ruminant methane output has been reduced by 98.8% with the addition of a compound from seaweed to the animals food. You are a small bit behind the science but thanks to people like you raising awareness we solved the problem!

This is a potential solution, but the problem isn't solved until the market actually adopts it. Without a financial incentive to follow through (for example, a carbon tax on gassy animals) to offset the added cost of feed supplements, then most farms won't see the business justification (carbon footprint is largely externalized).

Sorry to double post this but you can think of it as being similar to a human taking a cheap charcoal tablet with their food to reduce flatulance.

Only a small part of the animals feed needs to be seaweed and thankfully it is one of the easiest and fastest growing organisms on the planet. So it’s extremely cheap for the industry to adopt compared to losses related to carbon taxes and loss of market share.

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#16

Post by atlasy1 »

kasperni wrote: post #13
chrisco255 wrote: post #3

Insane to try to blame ruminants for climate change.

Farming contributes to a third of Denmark’s CO2 emission.

We can phrase anything in a negative light. Food which fuels 100% of Denmark’s population causes only 33% of Denmark’s emissions. This is a wonderful achievement.

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#17

Post by ygjb »

atlasy1 wrote: post #15
ygjb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a potential solution, but the problem isn't solved until the market actually adopts it. Without a financial incentive to follow through (for example, a carbon tax on gassy animals) to offset the added cost of feed supplements, then most farms won't see the business justification (carbon footprint is largely externalized).

Sorry to double post this but you can think of it as being similar to a human taking a cheap charcoal tablet with their food to reduce flatulance. Only a small part of the animals feed needs to be seaweed and thankfully it is one of the easiest and fastest growing organisms on the planet. So it’s extremely cheap for the industry to adopt compared to losses related to carbon taxes and loss of market share.

That means absolutely nothing until the majority of cattle farms incorporate the supplement into their operations.

Knowing a potential solution is not the same as solving a problem, unless you are performing an academic exercise.

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#18

Post by atlasy1 »

ygjb wrote: post #17
atlasy1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to double post this but you can think of it as being similar to a human taking a cheap charcoal tablet with their food to reduce flatulance. Only a small part of the animals feed needs to be seaweed and thankfully it is one of the easiest and fastest growing organisms on the planet. So it’s extremely cheap for the industry to adopt compared to losses related to carbon taxes and loss of market share.

That means absolutely nothing until the majority of cattle farms incorporate the supplement into their operations. Knowing a potential solution is not the same as solving a problem, unless you are performing an academic exercise.

A little difficult to parse your argument. It is the lack of implementation of the cheap solution that you are worried about and raising as a problem.

Do not worry.

When enough pressure is applied on the farmers thanks to people like you , the solution (seaweed) we have found will be implemented. We have already done the difficult part and found a solution to the problem.

Re: Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

#19

Post by wyre »

atlasy1 wrote: post #12
wyre wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a solved problem. This is a hyperbole less accurate than saying vehicle emissions are a solved problem because EV’s exist. Seaweed is not a widespread additive in cattle feed and global production of seaweed would need to drastically increase to handle demand. There is also a plethora of other factors to consider with the increased farming of seaweed and the dietary changes that make adding seaweed to a cows…

You can think of it as similar to a human taking a cheap charcoal tablet with their food to reduce flatulance. They will not take such a tablet until they are aware they have gastritis. When enough pressure is applied the solution will be implemented. Only a small part of the animals feed needs to be seaweed and thankfully it is one of the easiest and fastest growing organisms on the planet. So it’s extremely cheap f…

Sorry, edited my post while you were replying.

Your underestimating the amount of food cows need to eat a day and likely overestimating global seaweed production in relation to even supply only 1% of cattle feed.

89 millions cows in the US alone eating eating 20+ pounds of food a day is 890,000 tons or nearly 325 million tons per year. That’s per day. Global production of seaweed was 358,200 tons in 2019. Only about 11% of what would be needed to be included in 1% of feed of every cow in America. And that wouldn’t leave any seaweed to be used for any of its other uses or the millions of other cows around the world.

https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/how-many-cows-in-...

https://beef.unl.edu/cattleproduction/forageconsumed-day

https://fppn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s43014-022-0...

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/0990814231045205...

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