How Studying Cow Burps is Helping Argentinians Learn about Climate Change
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07.12.08
Image from Reuters/Marcos Brindicci
Cow flatulence and its link to climate change has been a favorite topic for us to cover at TreeHugger. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that we'd jump on a Reuters story describing the climatic implications of cow burps.
Researchers in Argentina have been "collecting" cow burps by strapping big, red plastic tanks to their backs. Just as cow farts are a significant source of methane emissions, so are their belches -- combined, the two can account for 800 to 1,000 liters, or roughly 25 to 35 cubic feet, of emissions a day (and that's per cow).
To capture the burps, the scientists connect the tanks to the cows' stomachs through a tube. The results of the study led Guillermo Berra of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology to conclude that up to 30% of Argentina's greenhouse gas emissions could be produced by cows. While cow emissions may seem more benign than, say, coal plant emissions, methane is much more potent a greenhouse gas than is carbon dioxide -- 23 times, to be exact. Taken together, these emissions therefore account for a significant chunk of Argentina's total GHG output.
Berra and his colleagues are developing new diets -- moving them away from grains to plants like alfalfa -- that will be easier to digest and, thus, less prone to generating large quantities of methane. Using tannins, a chemical found in a variety of plants, in the diets has proven effective at reducing emissions by 25%.
For some background on global warming sources in Argentina, read this nice primer from our Buenos Aires correspondent, Paula Alvarado.
Via ::Reuters: Cow burps help Argentines study climate change (news website)
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Why not use the methane to run their tractors, so not only milk them twice daily, also tap their gas and sell it. Shouldn't be so difficult to ungas these tanks on their back, since they also have to be milked anyway. Does anybody know what you can do or drive with a 1000 liters a day, maybe somebody out there need to check it out.
It's also not surprising that Treehugger just linked to this article.
It's been making the rounds for at least a week.
Get back on your game.
BP
Brave New Space Age Nano-Cow! Milk and Methane, one stop shopping. Why the heck not?
Remember these are research tanks, not practical ones. The tanks are piped directly to the stomach, you have to have near constant supervision to prevent anything bad happeninng to the cow and I doubt they leave them in place for very long either.
You'll need a better collection mechanism before you can try to harvest the outputs.
I'm also curious if Argentina exports a significant amount of its cow products? Shouldn't these GHG emissions fall on the the shoulders of consumer nations?
It is much easier to trap methane from manure than from burps and other... emissions. That should be the first system they install. Converting methane from poop into electricity does not prevent you from using the manure for fertilizer, either. Then we can talk about trapping gas from burps as well.
Which end did they insert the tube or did they go through the hide side? And watch for that bull! He may decide to take the tank on top for a ride.
And when the cows lay down on their sides? Righhht...