Burps, farts, and taxes: Denmark becomes the first country to tax farm animals’ methane emissions

Denmark has just passed the first tax in the world on animal belches and flatulence in a bid to protect the environment. The tax has been under negotiation for several years and was just passed by the Danish parliament. The measure, which will go into effect in 2030, will see farmers assessed a charge of 300 Danish kroner (roughly $43) for each ton of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by their operations. This tax will more than double within five years, hitting 750 kroner (or around $106 right now) by 2035. However, farmers will receive a 60% rebate because the technology does not yet exist to get rid of flatulence completely. The rebates will go up for farmers who take steps like sending their pig’s manure to machines that can pipe the methane to the gas grid or use additives in cows that will reduce the methane in their burps. Of course, one has to wonder what chemicals that can change an animal’s body chemistry enough to reduce the methane in their burps could do to the ...