Cattle and methane production
A teaser from Cowspiracy
The film was for a time free to watch on YouTube but has since been removed, it now costs $5 from the website www.cowspiracy.com and I would definitely say its worth paying for and watching. Cowspiracy (IMDB review here) is an independent documentary looking into cattle based agriculture, its dark impacts and why seemingly nobody wants to discuss it.
So... Cowspiracy aside what are the facts and science behind methane production from cattle agriculture? The following video produced by Harper Adams University gives an insight into how methane is produced and to the importance in feed in determining methane production:
Key points: Cows have large fore-stomach containing millions upon millions of bacteria called methanogens. These are good as they enable cows to create energy from foods we are not able to, the downside is that they create the waste product of methane. This study is looking into the role of changing feed types has on methane production - the focus of intense research at present.
So, with 1.5 billion cows in the world today:
... which are thought on average to create approximately 100kg methane each per year it's clear cows alone are a major source of methane and hence driver of climate change.
What are the options for the future?
Livestock populations of chickens and cattle
Source: The Economist (available here)
To get things into perspective!
Data: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Science, Figure: BBC (available here)
- Reducing cow numbers - and the global population adopting a diet less dependent on beef and dairy products
- Making cow production system more efficient - less time between calving and less time spent fattening cows
- Methane entrapment and use as a fuel
Before too long no longer just a joke?
(Original source unclear)
- Diet modification - studies such as that being undertaken at Harper Adams university in the video shown above are investigating feeds to determine variations in methane production. Others are adopting a different approach; one American study found after years of trials that natural oregano is able to reduce methane production by 40% when given to cows as a supplement at the appropriate dosage!
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet"
(Albert Einstein, Date unknown)
such an interesting topic Rob! I was vegetarian for almost 10 years but never considered i may be benefiting the environment! How effective do you believe changing large populations to vegetarianism would be as a mitigation strategy against methane?
ReplyDeleteIn short it would be very effective Charlie! I think sadly though, as raised in documentaries such as 'Cowspiracy' and 'Food inc' the food production system is very powerful at present and no politician has been put under enough pressure as yet to change things. I think we are seeing some slow changes for the better in societies like our own here in the UK (I would say there is a growing trend to try and cut back on the consumption of meat?). These though are likely being more than outweighed by countries such as India and China simultaneously wishing to adopt a diet with a greater incorporation of meat and dairy.
ReplyDeleteMore generally, methane aside, adopting vegetarianism globally would have an enormous effect in reducing anthropogenic emissions, as well reducing the pollution of ecosystems.
I've heard a lot about Cowspiracy and really feel the vegetarianism (and vegan!) movement is growing with environmental backing - it was very rare to meet someone who gave up meat purely for environmental reasons 5-10 years ago but now seems to be much more common! I wanted to share this article http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/05/kangaroo-farts-could-have-implications-for-farmers-in-climate-change-fight?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 with you about the kind of studies that have been surrounding cows and methane! I found it slightly amusing that scientists played with the idea of transplanting kangaroo guts into cows to reduce methane! But as the article says, there is likely to be little hope in this method. However, one idea is that we could move towards eating animals (like kangaroos) that produce less methane. I myself have tried kangaroo meat while in Australia and I found it to be delicious! Do you think there is any chance this kind of food revolution could mitigate some of the emissions from cows?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Kaitlin... I agree with you there about vegetarianism gaining ground for environmental reasons alone. I myself would consider myself a quasi-vegetarian (very rarely buying meat products but happy to eat it if I am ever served it) and am so predominantly for environmental reasons... But I'm glad that we both think that more and more people are making choices and dietary choices like this and adopting diets less reliant on meat and dairy products.
ReplyDeleteI read that article actually yes! It's interesting... But there conclusion that 'the methane is low because of the way food moves through the kangaroo stomach, and not because of a unique gut fauna' means as far as I can see there's little benefit in transferring micro-organisms living in the gut of kangaroos as they suggested. A whole different kettle of fish which I haven't mentioned is taking it a step back and genetically modifying cattle to produce less methane; I imagine this has much more scope for methane mitigation than the 'gut fauna' approach taken by Munn, Clauss and Vendl in their kangaroo studies - not that GM is wholly agreed upon and accepted by all.
In relation to your final comment, I haven't tried kangaroo meat myself but I imagine it would be quite nice! I think a food revolution could happen yes; I think common knowledge as to the environmental costs of choosing beef for example over chicken(/kangaroo!) spreads hopefully more and more people will start choosing less damaging meats, if they are to eat meat, or not eat meat at all if they wish to adopt a strict vegetarian diet... Another potential for a food revolution (whilst simultaneously reducing the environmental burden of eating meat) I think lies in the field of synthetic meat products - two years ago the cost of the world's first synthetic burger was $250,000 (http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/05/synthetic-meat-burger-stem-cells) it's since fallen to $12 - as the understanding of in-vitro production improves the cost will continue to fall. If the cost becomes equal to or less than the cost of a traditionally produced meat product then I can't see it not gaining momentum and uptake, who knows potentially even triggering a food revolution as you mentioned!