One company claims to have found a solution to one of the world's largest contributors to greenhouse emissions — gassy cows.
Global livestock accounts for 14.5 percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. About 44 percent of all livestock emissions are in the form of methane — which is a common byproduct of the digestive processes of cows and other ruminants like sheep. And it is the burp – rather than gas from the other end – that is the biggest source of the animal's methane.
But now Dutch life sciences company DSM is trialing a powdered feed additive that, could reduce methane emissions by more than 30 percent. Some dairy cows saw nearly 60 percent reduction rates during trial testing, while cattle raised for beef saw cuts of nearer 35 percent.