Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has invested in an Australian climate technology start-up Rumin8, that aims to curtail the methane emissions of cow burps.
Key points
- Rumin8 is developing a variety of dietary supplements to feed to cows in a bid to reduce the amount of methane they emit into the atmosphere.
- The supplement includes red seaweed, which is believed to drastically cut methane output in cows.
- Ruminant species are hooved grazing or browsing herbivores that chew cud.
- Ruminants such as cows, sheep, goats, and buffaloes have a special type of digestive system that allows them to break down and digest food that non-ruminant species would be unable to digest.
- Stomachs of ruminant animals have four compartments, one of which, the rumen, helps them to store partially digested food and let it ferment.
- As grass and other vegetation ferments in the rumen, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Ruminant animals such as cows and sheep release this methane mainly through burping.
- Given the very large numbers of cattle and sheep on farms in dairy-producing countries, these emissions add up to a significant volume.
- It is estimated that the ruminant digestive system is responsible for 27 per cent of all methane emissions from human activity.
(Source: Indian Express)
