Flatulance research at Teagasc

11/03/2013 Website News
Flatulance research at Teagasc If you happen to be walking around a Teagasc research centre and spot some cows with jetpacks on their backs, dont go with the current thinking that Ireland are working on a way to send cows to Mars. In fact this is serious stuff , even if some of the cows find it unflattering to wear. These ladies are having their flatulence measured by Teagasc, Ireland's Agricultural and Food Development Authority. Teagasc hopes to find a way to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without cutting milk production.

Cows and other ruminants emit methane gas into the atmosphere, but the amount released has been hard to measure. Teagasc has estimated that livestock contribute one-fifth of global methane emissions.

By strapping these methane-measuring devices to dairy cows, Teagasc can catch their every fart, giving a more accurate measure. They also estimate emissions by examining the cows' faeces. If the faeces contain archaeol - methane-producing microbes that cows use to digest food - it suggests the cow is a big emitter.

Further information: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2013/03/cow-flatulence.html
and http://www.teagasc.ie/news/2011/201106-07.asp

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