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A side of kelp will soon come to a field near you, as a team of food scientists develop a seaweed-based feed that could halve cow methane emissions.
Existing trials have shown that dairy cows who chow down on Ascophyllum nodosum, an algae harvested in British waters, release 95 per cent less methane.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 28 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Worldwide, beef and dairy cattle account for 14.5 per cent of all human-made methane, of which 95 per cent comes from belching.
The project, called CoWSeec (Cows to Worthless Seaweed) and run by scientists at the University of Aberdeen, has sparked green transformation in northeast Scotland, said project lead Prof Kimberley Sinclair. “It’s all hands to the pump to change the status quo and identify innovations that can transform industries,” she added. “Seaweed will be seen as a valuable resource.”
The team will now study the effect of seaweed-based feed on cow meat quality and milk yield, with a view to lowering enteric methane as soon as 2026.
Image: Lorena Lencekic