Cows become environmentally friendly by mixing seaweed in the feed based on studies by US researchers

Eighty-two percent less methane was emitted by cattle that received small amounts of seaweed-enriched feed for five months, a new study found. The results, published in the journal Plos One, are based on previous research that has shown that seaweed can reduce methane emissions from cows in the short term, the Guardian article reviewed by MTI. “We now have solid evidence that seaweed feeding is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases and that this beneficial effect will be maintained in the long run,” said Ermias Kebreab, a researcher at the University of California’s Davis campus (UC Davis) Director of World Food Center. Cows produce methane through microbes in their stomachs when they digest their fiber-rich diet, in a process similar to fermentation. Although methane stays in the atmosphere for less than carbon dioxide, it absorbs heat more than 30 times more efficiently, meaning it has a much stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. A species of seaweed called ...