It's not just the Aussies that are attempting to crack bovine botty burps, the Chinese are applying themselves to this most pressing of tasks too. However, instead of trying to get the 1.5 billion walking lawn mowers to ingest kangaroo bacteria, their solution appears to be far simpler.
The Takahashi formula, discovered by accident whilst investigating the causes of of mass cattle poisoning, involves a blend of nitrates and the amino acid cysteine, which acts as a powerful suppressant of methane production inside the cow’s stomach. It also has no effect on milk quality and cost a mere about 50p each day per animal.
Methane is about 22 times more potent than carbon dioxide at capturing atmospheric heat, and cows produce large quantities of the gas as the bacteria in their stomachs breaks down plant fibres. Their near-constant cud-chewing allows a small quantity of the gas to escape with nearly every breath each animal takes and of course we have "gas dispersal" via the other end too. It is thought that cattle account for 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
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