Can Seaweed Mitigate Climate Change? Yep!

According to NASA, belches from cattle, sheep, goats, and other ruminant animals have a climate change problem. Ruminants have digestive systems that ferment the cellulose in the rough vegetation they eat, making it easier to digest. The problem is methane gas is a byproduct of fermentation and the animals release it when they belch.

According to the EPA, methane accounts for about 10% of U.S. greenhouse emissions – and enteric (intestinal) fermentation accounts for about 27% of that.

ARS scientists are turning to bromoform, a compound in seaweed, that may reduce enteric methane emission by as much as 82% when fed to ruminants as a small portion of their diet. Expanding this nutritional supplement nationwide, and perhaps globally, could markedly reduce methane emissions, and that’s something worth boasting, not belching, about.

To learn more read "Happy Earth Day! Scientists Working to Reduce Methane Emissions"