Cattle seem to be the latest in the new green design for efficiency, just as cars had been. The secret is in the feeds. By reducing the amount of feed for cattle, cost of providing feeds is considerably lowered. The move also reduces the amount of methane, a climate-warming greenhouse gas, emitted by cattle into the atmosphere, thereby helping the environment.

Stephen Moore, an agriculture research scientist from the University of Alberta, is on top of this research on greening cattle by addressing the matter of ruminants that produce a lot of methane. He proposes two ways to green cattle: modifying the food that cows eat and modifying the cattle themselves. The latter will be done by ‘selectively breeding cows that are more fuel-efficient.’ Moore has ‘designed’ a cattle breed that ‘produces 25 percent less methane than the average bovine.’

“Methane is produced by bacteria, and we can breed animals that produce less methane, so there is obviously a link between the two,” said Moore. “The animal is very good at controlling what lives inside it.” He added, “We know we can reduce methane emission from diet.”

Researchers have also made the proposition enticing to farmers with the following incentives: low-emission and fuel-efficient cattle will reduce feed costs for farmers, and that ‘farmers who reduce their carbon dioxide equivalency (CO2e) credits can then sell them to companies who emit greenhouse gases under Alberta’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.’ Selling carbon credits means extra money for farmers.

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Via Discovery Channel