Methane reducing additive enters green challenge finale

Mootral, which was chosen out of 313 entries, is a company working with Neem Biotech Ltd, and has developed a unique feed additive for livestock that reduces their methane emissions by at least 25%.

 

The garlic-based extract is a natural antibiotic that works by fighting bacteria in the stomachs of cows and sheep.

 

The final will take place in Amsterdam on September 24th during PICNIC’09. It will be judged by Niklas Zennstrom, (Founder of Kazaa, Skype and Joost), Jim Walker, COO, Climate Group, and Liesbeth van Tongeren, Head of Greenpeace Holland.

 

The winner of this Green Challenge competition (sponsored by the Dutch Lottery) will receive €500,000 and there are two additional prizes of €100,000 each.

 

If Mootral wins, the money will be used to finish the development of Mootral and launch.

 

"We’re very excited that Mootral has received this recognition." says Michael Mathres, Mootral co-Founder.

 

“It is imperative to reduce methane emissions from cows, and Mootral is currently the only tangible and existing solution for that purpose. We hope this will raise the profile of Mootral.”

 

Few people are aware of the fact that there are more than 1 billion cows on earth, producing a total of 500 billion litres of methane per day (that’s equivalent to the volume of 200,000 olympic size swimming pools per day).

 

This means that cows are responsible for more than 20% of all greenhouse gases globally! (More than all transportation globally—cars, planes, ships, trucks etc…).

 

Although Mootral already exists, it is currently undergoing final dosage tests, with a view to launch a sample test at the UNFCCC Copenhagen Summit this December.

 

Mootral estimates that it can reduce cow emissions by up to 3 tonsCO₂/cow. This translates to £30/cow of carbon credit per year, which equals to a carbon credit market potential of more than £30bn/yr.

 

Another benefit of using the garlic extract is its instant impact. Whereas other low-carbon technologies take time (tree planting, biochar, carbon sequestration etc…), Mootral has an instant impact on global carbon emissions, when directly given to the animals.