IRA FLATOW: Wait a minute, I’m trying to absorb that. IRA FLATOW: And you found that putting seaweed in cows’ diets cuts methane emissions by how much?ĮRMIAS KEBREAB: We found it to cut emissions up to 80% or even a little bit more than 80%. We just put a little bit of seaweed into that diet. We’re giving them very little amount of seaweed, so maybe between 1 to 3 ounces of seaweed added to their normal diet. IRA FLATOW: So seaweed you’re giving them as part of their main diet?ĮRMIAS KEBREAB: Not really. But cows actually and ruminants, sometimes, they do forage on seaweed, if they are close to a seashore. Now, I know in your research, you’re feeding cattle something that they would never come across in nature, right?ĮRMIAS KEBREAB: This particular seaweed, yes, you’re right. Welcome to Science Friday.ĮRMIAS KEBREAB: Thank you for having me, Ira. Ermias Kebreab, Associate Dean and Professor of Animal Science at the University of California in Davis. So what if we could feed cows something that seriously decreases the amount of methane they release? Joining me today is a researcher who’s looking into this very question. While some people are leaning away from beef, trying to limit their carbon footprint, the industry isn’t going away any time soon. That’s because the cattle industry is one of the largest producers of methane gas, a huge contributor to global warming. But if you’re a cow, there’s a lot of scientific work that goes into analyzing what’s coming out in the gas you release.
When it comes to our bodies, there are a few bodily functions, well, let’s say that we’re usually discouraged from talking about, like releasing gas with a burp, or a gas that comes out of the other end, you know what I mean. Read the press release, via EurekAlert.They’re also joined by Albert Straus, founder and CEO of Straus Family Creamery in Marshall, California, who will be testing the seaweed diet on his cows this summer. Ira talks to the lead author of that paper, Ermias Kebreab, associate dean and professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis about how seaweed inhibits methane production in cows. New research shows a very promising result: By feeding beef cattle just a few ounces of dried seaweed per day, methane emissions from the cows went down as much as 82 percent. Some scientists are experimenting with feeding cows new things, to try to limit their methane output from the inside. (Yep, burps and farts.) But if you’re a cow, there’s a lot of scientific work that goes into analyzing what’s coming out in the gas you release. Specifically, the ones that involve releasing gas. When it comes to the bodies of humans and animals, there are a few functions that we’re usually discouraged from talking about. This steer at UC Davis was fed a small amount of seaweed that resulted in a dramatic drop in methane emissions.
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