SECTOR NEWS

Does feeding seaweed to cows reduce methane gas emissions?

In the case of Australia, the proportion of carbon emissions from agriculture, including livestock, reaches 10%. A recent study showed that seaweed feed made from Asparagopsis can reduce carbon emissions by more than 80%.

Asparagopsis contains an organic compound called bromoform, which prevents animals that ruminate on food, such as cows or sheep, from generating methane gas when they digest their feed.

Australia’s carbon reduction policy

According to Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), if 10% of livestock farms around the world fed seaweed feed additives to 1% of the feed consumed each day, 120 megatons of greenhouse gases could be reduced annually.

In Australia, we are investing a huge amount of money in related startups and carrying out projects to commercialize the technology and dominate the market.

“Cow burps and farts are the main culprit of global warming?”...Catch ‘methane’

Carbon dioxide is often the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the 'main culprit of global warming', but methane is actually more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

In particular, a significant portion of methane emissions come from cow burps and farts. Recently, a domestic research team discovered a way to reduce cow belching and farting by using eco-friendly feed.

Australian seaweed feed reduces methane gas from livestock industry

The Australian government and related industries have not had much interest in seaweed production, but efforts are being made to foster the industry as various efficacy and greenhouse gas reduction effects have been discovered.

In the case of Korea, seaweed production(nori, kelp, wakame, hijiki) and processing have already developed to a world-class level, and research on seaweed feed is also underway.

The size of the Australian feed and feed additive market is 2.4 billion Australian dollars in 2021 and is expected to grow at a rate of approximately 1.5% over the next five years.

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