As we hurtle toward crucial tipping points on a warming planet, an international team of scientists is recruiting a surprising ally to make a powerful dent in greenhouse gas emissions: the cow.
As we hurtle toward crucial tipping points on a warming planet, an international team of scientists is recruiting a surprising ally to make a powerful dent in greenhouse gas emissions: the cow. Animal sciences researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are driving a new project to reduce methane production resulting from rumen fermentation in beef and dairy cattle. The 3-year, $3.2-million project is part of the Greener Cattle Initiative, led by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR).
According to the researchers, aggressively targeting methane could help course-correct our climate trajectory on a quicker timeline than controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) alone. Methane is 28 times more potent than CO2 and degrades in the atmosphere within a dozen years, compared to the hundreds of years it takes CO2 to dissipate.
“What this means is that anything we do now with ruminant animals can have a huge impact on warming within decades, rather than centuries. Our challenge is to reduce enteric methane emissions by about 30 to 40% with the technologies we have,” said project leader Rod Mackie, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U. of I. Mackie is also affiliated with the Division of Nutritional Sciences in ACES and the Carl R. Woese Institute of Genomic Biology.
The project involves six research hubs around the world, all tackling the challenge of enteric methane, which is produced in the rumen as part of the microbial fermentation process. Mackie, along with Illinois animal sciences professor Josh McCann, will start by tracking hydrogen production and utilization during fermentation.
Read more at University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
Image: With funding from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, University of Illinois faculty, along with an international team of scientists, is recruiting a surprising ally to make a powerful dent in greenhouse gas emissions: the cow. The team will work to re-route hydrogen atoms away from methane during the fermentation process in the rumen, toward more productive end products. (Credit: University of Illinois)
