Scientists Attach Rectal Methane-Collecting Backpacks to Cows

4 years ago Nature

cow fartsPhoto:
Cows's Flatulence Contributes to Global Warming

Imagine for a moment that you have a balloon above your head. In this balloon is the entire volume of air that has passed through your body to become the gaseous odorous ghost of your last two meals. Being a vegetarian with a high fiber intake, I can guarantee that I would be quite embarrassed at the sheer size of such a balloon (or proud, depending on current company).

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Thankfully, cows have no pride or prejudice when it comes to their own bodily functions and apparently readily accept gas-collecting apparatuses in their anuses and mouths inserted by giggling scientists.

The mission of said giggling scientists is a simple: to reduce the amount of methane and other greenhouse gases expelled by cows. A 400 page United Nations report entitled Livestock's Long Shadow catalogs the environmental impact of the world's domesticated animals. In the report, the Food and Agriculture Organization found that Earth's nearly 1.5 billion cows produce about 18 percent of the world's green-house gases.

For Argentina, a country whose 55 million cows account for a whopping 38 percent of the country's greenhouse emissions, the flatulation problem is a serious one. Guillermo Berra, a researcher taking part in the cow farting shenanigans stated that every cow produces between 8000 and 1,000 liters of emissions each day.

While phrases like “carbon footprint” and “carbon neutral” are the buzzwords of hobby environmentalists fighting carbon dioxide with bumper stickers, gases like methane take a backseat. However, methane is actually 23 to 50 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat within the atmosphere.

For the project, scientists develop new diets and collect the gas from cows for analysis. Interestingly, feeding the cows alfalfa or clover instead of grain actually reduces methane emissions by 25 percent. Perhaps the invention of Bovine Beano® is finally in sight!

Sources: 1, 2

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Written by: Brad Handley

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Comments

Old Comments

eeaotly says

Oct 22nd, 2009 at 12am
Interesting article. And it isnt silly at all! Other ,,serious issues,, like overpopulation, deforestation, extinction of species or polution are co-related to the cow methane problem. More population means virtually more meat eaters. Theaching an explosive growing population about the impact of its habits can make huge difference especially when people dont have a clue about the life and organism of the animals they eat, use and raise, and, as we can see, they tend to take it as a silly joke. But it isnt a joke unfortunately. Feeding cows with grains means less grains for our bread, and, more important, means deforestation in order to make space for agriculture. We all know the forests are our natural allay agains air polution and global change. More than that, forests are the homes of numbrous species and destroing these habitats, means killing those species, making them face extinction. So we eat beef, the farmers raise more cows, they feed them intensively with stimulators and grains, and this likely unnatural alimentation make the animal organism react by producing more gas as a result of digestion. In the same time forest are cut down and species are destroyed. The planet gets hot and the weather goes wild. No, it isnt a joke. The cows arent our only problem but they are a problem. The beef consumption should be drasticaly reduced, the cows should be raised mainly for milk produce. And the cows should be feed organic with the natural food of theyr species : grass. Theyr digestion problem has an old solution : see the books of dr.D.C. Jarvis. Algae and vinegar and other suplements. Concerned of humans similar gas problem ? The same suplements are the solution. Are the scientists making funny experiments? Maybe, but this is the nature and faith of science, it sometimes looks silly for us, the ,,lay,, people...

NH says

Dec 31st, 2008 at 12am
They should have attached one to Al Gore's MOUTH. He has emitted more poisonous gas from there than any cow could ever in its lifetime.

Barbra says

Sep 11th, 2008 at 12am
Go grass fed!! Logically it seems that the problem is not so much the cows but what they eat! Is that not what causes gas? What we eat. Mankind meddles with nature too much. Instead of a vaccine aginst gas or genetic manipulation just change their food. Instead of feeding them what ever fattens them up as quickly and cheaply as possible, the cows should get a diet more natural to their species. Are wild cattle not naturally grazers? Soooo.....LET THEM EAT GRASS! What is in a pasture? Grass, alfalfa, clover...... And didnt they discover alfalfa and clover reduces their "emissions" by 25% I guess what they say is true "Grass fed is best!"

Barbra says

Sep 11th, 2008 at 12am
Hmmmmm.....Cows arn't the only ones who fart. I don't see my father in law walking around with a 'gas-collecting apparatus' :) Wonder how much human uh... emmissions.. contribute to 'enviromental impact', bodily emmissions that is. There are alot more of us then there are cows.

Vadim says

Jul 18th, 2008 at 12am
I think cutting down meat consumption is probably a better way to go around saving the environment than putting rectal backpacks on cows. I think this is our best idea -- cutting meat from peoples' diets on a gradual basis and promoting vegetarianism. It'll have a much more immediate effect.

Minnesotastan says

Jul 15th, 2008 at 12am
My understanding is that the tube is not a rectal tube, but rather inserted transcutaneously into the stomach - because cows belch methane rather than farting it. Stan

GoGetter says

Jul 13th, 2008 at 12am
Ya gotta start somewhere...

Antiglobalist says

Jul 11th, 2008 at 12am
Cmon, this is silly. We're focusing on tiny problems while the real environmental challanges are left untouched: deforestation, overpopulation, overindustrialization, globalization and depletion of natural resources. Chasing farting cows is just plain stupid.