Annual Methane Emissions of 100kg per Cow
New Zealand Considers Tax on Cow Farts and Burps
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As extreme cold in Northeast Asia including Korea and abnormal high temperatures in Europe cause frequent weather anomalies worldwide, governments are promoting various bills to curb methane emissions, a major warming gas. Among them, suppressing cow flatulence and burping, identified as the main sources of methane emissions, is emerging as a new environmental issue.
On the 25th (local time), according to the British BBC, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft (MS), invested $12 million (about 14.8 billion KRW) in an Australian startup developing feed additives that suppress cow flatulence and burping. According to the report, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), a clean energy fund established by Gates in 2015, invested in the Australian startup 'Rumin8,' which is developing feed additives that can significantly reduce methane emissions from cow flatulence, burping, and defecation.
The feed additive developed by Rumin8 contains a considerable amount of red algae, a type of red seaweed, and when fed to cows, it is known to reduce methane emissions through flatulence and burping by more than 80%. Previously, Rumin8 announced that their experimental results showed methane gas emissions from cows could be reduced by up to 95% when fed this feed additive. Rumin8 stated that their goal is to decarbonize 100 million cows by 2030.
Methane is a greenhouse gas considered a major cause of global warming along with carbon dioxide. Although its atmospheric lifetime is shorter than carbon dioxide, its heat-trapping ability is 84 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
In particular, cows, as large herbivores, emit large amounts of methane through burping and flatulence during the rumination process. It has been estimated that a single cow produces nearly 100 kg of methane annually, which is equivalent to the amount of methane generated by burning about 3,400 liters of gasoline in vehicles.
Methane emissions from a single cow and a single vehicle are not significantly different, and considering methane emissions from meat processing and transportation, the total methane emissions from cattle farms and meat processing companies are estimated to be much higher.
In New Zealand, a representative dairy country, there is even consideration of imposing an environmental tax on methane gas generated from cow flatulence and burping. The New Zealand government announced last October a plan to impose farm levies, i.e., taxes, based on greenhouse gas emissions from farms, and if the bill passes, the tax is expected to be levied starting in 2025.
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