Defra aims at cutting methane emissions
A new £750,000 (approx. €1.1 million) project from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is aimed at finding better cow types or high-sugar grass varieties that lead to lower emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly methane.
from livestock accounted for about 7% of the total greenhouse gas emissions for
the UK and double that worldwide. Cars are reckoned to account for about 6%.
The Defra strategy will also be
focusing on the development of anaerobic digesters to deal with cattle
slurry, and produce useable energy, a technology that has developed rapidly in
Germany with the aid of substantial subsidies.
Better use of feed
A 20-25% reduction in methane produced
by cows would be possible simply by bringing in more efficient feeding regimes,
according to Keenan, from an Irish animal feed-machine manufacturing firm that
is one of the likely candidates to carry out the project.
Unveiling the
results of Keenan’s latest farm research at Harper Adams University College in
Shropshire, David Beever, the company’s international nutrition director, said:
“What we are offering is a better use of feed, like a better burn of fuel in
cars. “This means that more carbon, which is really energy, goes into the
product while less goes to waste.”
Which company will carry out the
project will be announced soon by Defra.
Related
links:
Defra
Harper
Adams University College
Related article:
Plant extracts for sustainable livestock
production
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