A Sprinkle of Seaweed Could Deflate Gassy Cows (2016)

> the average cow produces 200~500 liters of methane per day.

> There are ~1.5 billion cows worlwide.

> ~14.5% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock. That is more than global car and airplane traffic emissions combined.

> While sheep, goats, buffalo, giraffes and camels all generate methane, 65% comes from cows.

> dairy cows not only produce more methane than beef cattle, but outnumber them by a ratio of 10 to 1 in the United States.

> They tested ~20 different species of seaweed in artificial cow stomachs. In the presence of Asparagopsis taxiformis, methane production was cut by 99%. Experiments in sheep showed that if dried Asparagopsis taxiformis seaweed made up just 2% of total feed, methane emissions drop by 70%.

> Asparagopsis is so effective because it contains a chemical called bromoform (CHBr3) that interferes with the microbial digestive enzymes responsible for methane manufacture.

Lastly:

> Unfortunately, seaweed isn’t a quick fix for our atmospheric methane overdose. We just don’t make enough. Scientists calculate that it would take some 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of seaweed farms to supply a mere 10% of Australia’s 29 million cattle; to supply America’s 92 million would take over thirty times more. While seaweed farming is a rapidly growing global industry, it’s not yet up to such herculean demands.