UNITED STATES: Bill Gates has spearheaded a new $12 million investment in an Australian company to lessen the emissions from cows’ burps that contribute to global warming. This company plans to feed seaweed to cows.
The Microsoft co-founder supported the fundraising of the Perth-based business Rumin8 through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which was established in 2015. The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and Chinese businessman Jack Ma are additional supporters of the Breakthrough Fund.
To lessen the quantity of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that cows belch up, Rumin8 is creating a variety of supplements to feed them. The diet includes red seaweed and rangeland plants that mimic “nature’s anti-methanogenic chemical” and reduce methane generation.
Gaseous ruminants, on the other hand, are often forgotten as major contributors to the global warming disaster. Although these animals may release 220 pounds of methane each year, the same amount of fuel as 900 gallons of gasoline.
This never-ending stream of poop contributes significantly to the global increase in methane emissions, a gas that traps heat 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide.
According to research conducted last year, 15 of the major meat and dairy producers in the world collectively emit more methane than several of the largest nations in the world, including Russia, Canada, and Australia.
Even though the world’s meat consumption is predicted to increase over the next few decades, some businesses have looked at ways to directly lessen the climate impact of the planet’s 1 billion cows. The US and EU are among those who have signed a global pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
According to past studies, adding seaweed to cows’ diets can cut methane production in their stomachs by more than 80%. Gates has already urged people to completely switch to consuming synthetic beef and spoken out against the effects of meat consumption on the environment.
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