To read the triumphant trumpetings of its developers (or, for that matter, the BBC verify ‘fact-check’ article), you’d think the development of the supplement was a gigantic leap forward for science and the answer to a hitherto insoluble and world-threatening problem - it’s almost the stuff of science fiction: who’d have guessed that feeding anti-freeze to cows would save the planet? (As they say, I think I’ve seen this movie; it doesn’t end well…)
This seems odd since, some fourteen years ago, researchers at Newcastle University found that adding ground-up coriander, turmeric and cumin significantly reduced methane emissions in sheep by 40%, 30% and 22% respectively (comparing favourably to Bovaer’s estimates of 35-45% in cattle). It sounds pretty sensible - all natural, no need to worry about getting the dose exactly right and very much in keeping with a wild-grazing animal’s varied intake of plants.
Perhaps subsequent research discovered unexpected problems with using curry spices - rather sadly for the cows, who might have enjoyed the flavour - but a cynic would be forgiven for thinking that it is unlikely anyone could claim a monopoly on bovine garam masala and so, outside the ivory tower of academia, real-world laboratories persisted in the search for a new, unique and above all patentable formula.
With some 9 million cattle in the UK and an estimated cost of £70 per year per animal, the developers of Bovaer are clearly keen to get a head start in the race to harness the cow that laid the golden cowpats, although they do have some competition, including a seaweed derivative, a blend of citrus and garlic - I’m really not drinking any milk from those cows: remember the butter with a “twang” in ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’? - and, most bizarrely of all, a sort of yashmak which converts methane burps to carbon dioxide.
Like so many ‘green’ initiatives, there’s the potential for a wonderful exercise in distraction; after all, the planet did just fine, apparently, when 70 million bison roamed the Great Plains. In fact, there’s an idea; rather than just sitting back and watching the money roll in, maybe the Bovaer scientists should be obliged to run lengthy field tests in person on an assortment of American bison, musk oxen and Cape buffalo, preferably on camera, before they are allowed to tinker with our precious livestock.
(For an impressively clear explanation of Daisy’s internal workings and some interesting views on the subject, I suggest a visit to Leg-Iron’s place: https://underdogsbiteupwards.wordpress.com/2024/11/29/the-fart-of-doom)
When I first read about this, my first thought was, what are they going to do about all the other grazing animals in the world. Are they proposing to dose the herds of Wildebeests and other such animals? Perhaps wild animals produce a different kind of methane.
ReplyDeleteYou’re probably right; being wild - and preferably endangered - presumably negates the impact in much the same way as Miliband’s net-zero team’s three million air miles don’t count.
DeleteThere are several papers out there containing comparative graphs of the emissions from wildebeest, zebra and so on but, while going into detail on statistical processes, they are frustratingly reticent on exactly how the data sets were acquired - for example I’d be interested to meet the person who managed to measure the gas emissions from both ends of a hippopotamus (although perhaps not shake him/her by the hand).
I expect snake oil works just as well when it comes to curing the climate.
ReplyDeleteDon’t give them ideas! It looks as if they are ready to try anything and I really don’t fancy the thought of mashed viper turning up somewhere in the food chain.
DeleteIncidentally, while researching this post, I came across this potential source of confusion for those of a Green persuasion in an article from Yale University:
‘Scientists Zero in on Trees as a Surprisingly Large Source of Methane’:
‘“We found a consistent story that the trees all emit a lot of methane. In the seasonally flooded part of the Amazon, the trees become a massive chimney for pumping out methane.” Emissions from individual trees were more than 200 times higher than any previously measured anywhere. Every hectare of flooded forests was emitting several kilograms of methane each day.’
(there’s an interesting suggestion in the comments that the researcher has since downplayed her findings to avoid jeopardising her future funding prospects.)
https://e360.yale.edu/features/scientists-probe-the-surprising-role-of-trees-in-methane-emissions