Controlling Methane Emissions from Livestock

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C&EN Oct 10 issue reports latest work. https://cen.acs.org/environment/climate-change/scientists-want-cut-livestocks-methane/100/i36

3-Nitroxypropanol (the mono-nitrate ester of 1,3-propanediol) has been shown to reduce methane emissions when fed to livestock. It has been approved for use in EU, Chile, and Brazil.

California has approved the use of a feed additive from red seaweed.

Methane production in ruminants typically consumes 4-10% of the energy in the feed.

3-NOP was discovered by Royal DSM (the Dutch chemical giant) in a search for an inhibitor for a key enzyme in methane formation. In a feedlot trial they found a 26% reduction in methane production.

Bromoform is also effective but tox issues (possible carcinogen) work against its development.

Red seaweed is shown to reduce methane 67% in dairy cattle and 80% in beef cattle. Red seaweed also increased feed efficiency by 14%.

Research continues for a longer term treatment requiring less frequent treatment or treatment of herds in the field.

Livestock emissions are likely to increase 30% by 2050 as humans consume more meat.

Each cow produces 100 kg of methane per year or about 6% of global greenhouse gas production.

DSM is marketing 3-NOP as Bovaer®. Bovaer® is a feed additive that enables farmers to achieve a significant and immediate reduction of the environmental footprint of meat, milk, and dairy products. On average, it reduces enteric methane emissions by 30% from dairy cows and 45% from beef cattle.

In the US, Elanco is marketing the DSM product. Elanco was spun off from Eli Lilly in 2019.

The key market players analyzed in the global commercial seaweeds market report include Cargill Incorporated, CJ Cheiljedang Corporation, Corbion NV, Gimme Health Foods Inc., Irish Seaweeds, J.M. Huber Corporation, Mara Seaweed, Ocean Harvest Technology Limited, Qingdao Gather Great Ocean Algae Industry Group Co., Ltd (GGOG), Roland Foods, LLC, SeaSnax, Seasol, Seaweed & Co., Singha Corporation Co. Ltd., and Taokaenoi Food & Marketing PCL.

Of these Cargill and JM Huber (owner of Kelco) are best known, but so far no animal feed news reports.

Red seaweed grows in Australia. Products are beginning.

FutureFeed has issued licenses to three seaweed growers – CH4 Global, Sea Forest and SeaStock – to supply asparagopsis to the livestock market.

3-Nitroxypropanol is in the same family as nitroglycerin, the trinitrate of propanetriol. Glycerine is readily available as a by-product of biodiesel. You wonder if glycerine mononitrate might also be effective. 1,3-Propanediol is usually a petrochemical although Dupont has recently developed a fermentation process for it from corn.

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But the effects of this seaweed vary widely, and so researchers from Pitta’s Agricultural Systems and Microbial Genomics Laboratory (ASMG lab) and Pennsylvania State University undertook an assessment of how it alters the microbiome in the rumen, a compartment of a cow’s stomach…

*The researchers found that in the first two 28-day periods, the high dose of seaweed led to a near total elimination of Methanosphaera , a microbe that uses hydrogen to reduce methanol to methane, in the rumen… *

However, the study explains that Methanosphaera populationsspiked in later periods because they were unable to inactivate bromoform, a substance in seaweeds that suppresses the formation of methane in the rumen. The study also explored the activity of enzymes involved in methanogenesis…

DB2

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Thanks for a very informative article. I suppose seaweed as a source of bromoform should be no surprise.

Dow Chemical was founded to extract bromine from the Michigan salt brines. In WWII bromine was needed as ethylene bromide to purge lead from aviation engines that used tetraethyl lead for high octane. Dow ended up at Freeport Tx, their largest plant–initially to recover bromine from seawater after a floating plant on a barge proved expensive to operate. Low cost natural gas then mostly a waste stream from petroleum was a driver for expansion of the chemical industry. They say flared ng lit up the skys at night in the area.

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Some sort of dietary supplement would seem to be a natural, especially for dairy cows. With billions of dollars sloshing around from the IRA, free supplements could be an easy step to lower methane emission.

DB2

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I agree. Its good to hear people are researching better diets to reduce methane emissions. Reducing beef and dairy herds would be opposed by many.

Note that bromoform is one of those haloforms we object to in drinking water. The major one is chloroform that can form when water containing organics is chlorinated.

Low levels of bromoform may prove to be safe but as a suspected carcinogen is not acceptable in milk, water, or food.

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What I want to know is “how do they measure it”? Stick a funnel with a pipe on their butts? Tape a sniffer on the backside? Hold a cigarette lighter behind the beef for a couple hours? What?

And who is the unsung genius who figured it out, and why are they anonymous?

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The logical way is put the animal in a closed space and measure the methane concentration over time. That can probably reduce to an amount number. The fun part is how do you compensate for variations. Is it methane per animal, per lb of animal, per lb of food, etc.

In time some trends are likely to emerge and you learn that x is better than y.

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I was wondering about the population total of other animals. Specifically, could they also be contributing to the problem? Here is a link with totals. You have to scroll about half way down before they start talking about cattle, bats, pigs, sheep , dogs, goats, cats …
Most Populous Animals On Earth - WorldAtlas

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Ruminants are the source of methane. They have double stomachs that lets them digest the cellulose in hay by fermentation. Generally its animals that eat hay. Cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits, goats and probably lots more like zebras, gazelles, etc. Not hogs; not cats; not dogs.

There are countries in Europe who plan to address the methane from livestock problem by limiting animal populations. Will you need a permit and pay a fee to own a cow?

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AI Overview

There are several ways to measure methane production by cows, including:

GreenFeed systems
These trough-like machines measure the gases cows breathe and burp out while eating. Cattle are trained to put their heads in the machine for a minimum of three minutes, and are rewarded with grain when they do. The system can measure up to 20 animals per day, and the measurements are used to estimate daily emissions.

Respiration chambers
Considered the “gold standard” for measuring methane output by individual cows, but are not suitable for large-scale measurements.

Micrometeorological measurement techniques
These techniques use tall towers with tubing that draws air into methane sensors as it circulates in the atmosphere.

Calibrated bags
A sample bag is inflated to a known volume and then collected over a known time period.

Internal tracer techniques
These techniques can be used to measure enteric methane emissions from individual cows.

Laser methane detectors
These detectors measure the methane content of air entering and leaving a pasture area

We Can’t Manage Cattle Methane Without… | The Breakthrough Institute.

{
To better assess progress toward methane mitigation targets—let alone achieve them—researchers must accomplish at least three things. First, they must make measurement of livestock emissions more accurate, consistent, and affordable. This is critical for assessing the effectiveness of changes in livestock management in reducing emissions, and for estimating emissions embodied in supply chains or particular products. Second, researchers must use measurement data to develop predictive models (for example, carbon footprint calculators) of different practices before those practices are implemented and to inexpensively estimate emissions without on-farm measurement. Third, scientists must measure and test methane reduction strategies in a greater range of environments than has been done thus far, particularly with animals while they’re grazing, which is when they appear to emit the most enteric methane. Governments and the private sector can each contribute to these goals by investing in enteric methane research. }

:slightly_smiling_face:
ralph

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Back in the 1860s, the US govt gave land grants to states to establish ag and engineering universities. These schools co-ordinate with USDA and run ag extension services in every state.

They are ideally suited to carry out this research. You would hope they are in the middle of that program.

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