Summer BanksCows with Gas
November 8th 2007 00:19
Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence. Th ammount is believed to be comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.
In Britain cows contribute 3 percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions and 25 to 30 percent of its methane. In New Zealand, a huge 34 percent of greenhouse gases come from livestock. Preliminary studies with garlic have shown to decrease the amount of methane emitted by the animals
At the University of Hohenheim in Germany, scientists created a pill to trap gas in a cow's rumen -- its first stomach -- and convert the methane into glucose (ewe!). However, the pill requires a strict diet and structured feeding times, and its tricky to place a cow on a diet.
In 2003, the government of New Zealand proposed a flatulence tax, which was not adopted because of public protest.
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