Cows and Climate Change

Ever since I read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in 7th grade, the relationship between man and cow has always triggered mixed emotions.

But in recent years, not only are there concerns about how we treat our bovine friends before we eat our bovine friends, but our appetite for bovine products may be contributing to global climate change in a significant way.

Here are just a few of the many articles on how cow methane emissions are contributing to climate change:

• July 2000. CNN reports that in pulling together Australia's emissions inventory for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, government officials map the impact of belching and flatulence in cows and sheep which annually produce 90 percent of Australia's methane emissions in the agricultural sector.
  

• March 2005. Compassion in World Farming sponsors an international conference on animal sentience. Preceding that conference, news.com.au published an article by Jonathan Leake on "The Secret Life of Cows" where he reports that "cows have a complex mental life in which they bear grudges, nurture friendships and become excited by intellectual challenges, researchers have found."

• December 2005. British scientists were fighting climate change by trying to reduce the harmful greenhouse gases produced by flatulent cows.

• December 2006. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization releases the 400-page report "Livestock's Long Shadow" where they identified cow 'emissions' as more damaging to the planet than CO2 from cars.

• October 2007. More methane is emitted from the front of a cow than the rear. But given that no viable method has been devised to capture this gas as it erupts from either end of the cow, Swedish company Svenska Biogas develops a method of obtaining methane from the bits of cows that would otherwise be discarded during the slaughter process. Is this a trump card in the fight against global warming?

• March 2008. Climate change experts target cow flatulence. The Rowett Research Institute is leading a European project to develop a feed additive that can inhibit the production of the foul smelling gas but so far it has only succeeded in trials with lambs. An institute spokesman said it was looking for commercial partners for further research.

• April 2008. Climate Change: From Cows to Kilowatts – A Case Study in Successful Technology Transfer. The “Cows to Kilowatts” initiative in Nigeria aims to reduce the water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from slaughterhouse waste. Building on innovative technology from Thailand, the project converts abattoir waste into household gas and organic fertilizer, providing local communities with clean, cheap fuel.

Finally, here is a how-to video on how farmers can extract methane gas from cow dung and use as a fuel.