The device, which was designed by UK company ZELP, neutralizes methane by catching a cow’s burp and oxidizing it, meaning it’s released into the atmosphere as CO2 and water vapor.

It was named as one of the winners of a £50,000 prize in the The Prince of Wales’ inaugural Terra Carta Design Lab, a competition that recognises “innovative design solutions to the climate crisis.”

The design may be innovative, but the fact that these contraptions are being validated and celebrated as a viable solution to the climate crisis by the press, the public, and one of the most recognizable royal figures in the world is hugely concerning.

The idea that animal agriculture-related emissions can be combated by some quick-fix media-friendly contraption, rather than by a drastic overhaul of our food system, belittles the urgency of the incoming climate catastrophe. The masks are papering over the cracks of the crisis and failing to address the root cause of the problem – that we eat far too much meat.

Animal farming and emissions

Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of global warming, and is generally understood to be responsible for at least 14.5 percent of the world’s emissions (though one recent study put it as high as 87 percent).

Of all the animals we eat, cows are by far the biggest contributors, due largely to the fact that they emit methane when they burp, fart, and defecate. 

Methane, along with carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, is one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. It is 80 times more warming than CO2 in its first 20 years in the atmosphere.

A UN report released in August 2021 stated that countries need to make “strong, rapid, and sustained reductions” in methane emissions. Methane has a short half-life, meaning we would see the benefits very soon after reducing the gas.

Cutting these emissions, therefore, is the most effective thing we can do to quickly reduce global warming.

The warming planet

Around a third of the world’s methane comes from cattle, and the only way to sufficiently reduce these emissions is to dramatically cut the number of cows we farm for meat and dairy. Last year, the UN endorsed a report urging world leaders to shift away from animal agriculture and move towards plant-based food systems. Meanwhile, a 2018 study from the University of Oxford found that a 90 percent fall in beef consumption in western countries was “essential” to avoid climate breakdown.

But while senior royal figures and the general public are celebrating cow face masks, the beef and dairy industries are growing, and the planet is getting hotter. Worldwide, people consumed 70.9 million metric tons of beef in 2020, up from 65 million in 2010. Despite making a joint pledge to reduce methane emissions by almost a third in the next decade, neither the US or EU have made any commitments for the farming sectors. 

An IPCC report published in April of this year proclaimed that limiting global heating is a “now or never” issue, so the idea that we have time to flitter about putting masks on a few cows, rather than creating urgent revolutionary new laws to reduce their numbers, is hugely problematic. While the masks do apparently remove around 53 percent of cows’ methane emissions, they fail to address emissions in their flatulence and manure. It would also be pretty unfeasible to distribute them widely enough and persuade a notable proportion of farmers to use them. 

But even if the masks did successfully neutralize all methane from cows, and they were somehow given to every single one in the world, they would still fail to address the other environmental crises caused by these animals.

Resource-intensive cattle farming

Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of deforestation, which is one of the most critical environmental issues we are currently faced with. Cattle ranching accounts for around 80 percent of deforestation in the Amazon, and beef production uses around half of agricultural land in the US. As well as the farms themselves, a huge amount of deforested land is used to grow soy and other feed for these animals.

Deforestation is responsible for a huge amount of carbon build-up in the atmosphere, which directly contributes to global warming. When trees are cut down to create farmland, the CO2 they were storing is released, and the reduction in the numbers of trees means that less of the gas is removed from the atmosphere. Methane, therefore, isn’t the only greenhouse gas cow farming creates. 

Animal welfare in the farming sector

But putting aside the environmental shortcomings of these masks, the idea that they are some sort of stroke of genius – when they likely inflict more misery on beings that already have a life more painful than it’s possible to imagine – shows how far removed we are from animal suffering. The designers claim that these masks fit “comfortably” and don’t impact their daily lives, but given that cows are sentient beings capable of distress and discomfort just like we are, this is doubtful.

Clearly, it isn’t enough that we forcibly impregnate them, drag away their calves hours after they’re born, hook them up to milking machines, then pack them off to the slaughterhouse where they’re strung up and have their throats cut (often while they’re alive and kicking). Now, humans have decided to force them to spend their lives with a massive piece of plastic attached to their face, all so we can carry on burying our heads in the sand about the fact that what we’re doing to them is killing the planet. 

These masks are just the latest bit of evidence that humans will do seemingly anything to avoid facing up to the fact that we need to urgently stop eating animals to avoid climate catastrophe.

While there is no doubt that they will work to reduce methane in the cows wearing them, they will likely make up a drop in the ocean in a world where meat demand is growing and cow farming continues to expand unchecked. We need urgent intervention from governments to dramatically reduce our meat intake and move us to a plant-based food system. 

The post Putting Face Masks On Cows Isn’t A Solution To The Climate Crisis – Not Eating Them Is appeared first on Plant Based News.

One pilot scheme, which will span across three European countries, is the result of a partnership between Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla and Royal DSM, a Dutch health, nutrition, and materials company.

DSM invented Bovaer, a food additive that, when fed to cows, suppresses the enzyme that triggers methane production.

An individual cow produces an estimated 220 pounds of methane every year. As of 2022, there are more than one billion grazing cows on the planet.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere at approximately 25 times the rate of carbon dioxide.

Adding ¼ of a teaspoon of Bovaer to a cow’s daily feed is thought to reduce the cow’s methane emissions by up to 30 percent. 

Modified feed to be tested on 10,000 cows

Bovaer – which has been extensively tested in 14 countries over the last decade – is the first feed additive to be approved by the EU. It will be added to the feed of 10,000 dairy cows on 50 farms across Denmark, Sweden, and Germany as part of Arla’s pilot scheme.

If preliminary results are in line with Arla’s expectations, the conglomerate will double the number of cows involved in the scheme to 20,000 in 2023.

Hanne Søndergaard, Arla’s head of agriculture and sustainability, said: “Climate change requires urgent action, and we believe that dairy is part of the solution.”

“This is a great example of innovative scientific solutions and actions we are taking to create a sustainable and resilient future for dairy and I am excited to see how far this will take us,” Søndergaard said.

Dairy vs plant milk

Arla claims that its farmers are “among the most climate efficient dairy producers in the world,” estimating that one kilogram of its raw milk produces 1.15kg of carbon dioxide.

In 2013, one liter of dairy milk (equivalent to around 1.03kg) had a carbon footprint of 3.15 kg, in comparison to almond milk at 0.7 kg per liter, rice milk at 1.18 kg per liter, oat milk at 0.9 kg per liter, and soy milk at 0.98 kg per liter.

Dairy milk production also requires much more land and water than plant-based milk alternatives. For instance, pastureland and crop production to feed livestock amounts to 77 percent of the planet’s farmed land.

In fact, reducing meat and dairy is proven to be one of the most effective ways that individuals can lessen their impact on the planet.

Methane masks for cows

Meanwhile, in the UK, a different type of methane-reducing technology is being piloted at a beef farm in Shropshire.

The Zero Emissions Livestock Project (ZELP) teamed up with ABP Food Group – the UK’s largest beef producer – to invent a face mask for cows that converts their methane emissions into carbon dioxide and water.

The device recently received Prince Charles’ royal seal of approval at Terra Carta Design Lab’s Sustainable Markets Initiative. There, the invention won the grand prize of £50,000 along with three pioneering concepts.

The other winners were Aerseeds (artificial seed pods made from food waste), AMPHITEX (a recyclable textile), and The Tyre Collective (a device which collects tire wear particles and microplastics).

ZELP estimates that 95 percent of methane emitted by cows is from their mouths and nostrils. The start-up’s website claims that the cow mask will “reduce emissions while improving animal welfare.”

However, animal protection charity PETA has slammed the company for the “inhumane” and “medieval-looking” creation.

Talking to MailOnline, PETA Director Elisa Allen said: “The Prince of Wales should be royally ashamed to give this medieval-looking device an award instead of condemning it with at least the force he reserves for modern architecture.

“The creators of this inhumane contraption claim it is ‘comfortable’, but that’s akin to calling meat, eggs, and dairy ‘gifts to the environment’ when they cause it inarguable harm.

“The last thing our society needs is to inflict more suffering on animals, when what is needed is a rapid retreat from cruel and environmentally damaging animal agriculture.”

The post Farmers Test Modified Animal Feed And Methane Masks On Cows To Reduce Emissions appeared first on Plant Based News.

The information was presented in the fourth edition of the Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index, which assesses the environmental and social standing of 60 leading meat, dairy, and aquaculture companies.

These companies – including JBS, Tyson, and Hormel – have a combined market capitalization of $363 billion. 

The report zeroes in on 10 risk and opportunity factors: greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and biodiversity, water use and scarcity, waste and water pollution, antibiotics, working conditions, animal welfare, food safety, governance, and sustainable proteins. 

Findings

The index report concluded that protein producers lack transparency around emissions, which could interfere with sustainability goals. For instance, only 18 percent of meat and dairy producers disclose even some of their methane emissions.

This is despite the fact that the sector is to blame for 44 percent of global anthropogenic (human-caused) methane emissions. It would take a forest three quarters of the size of South America to sequester them. 

Researchers also discovered that major companies with zero-deforestation pledges, including JBS and Marfrig, which supply McDonald’s, do not monitor third party suppliers. 

This is significant, given that these suppliers are responsible for up to 90 percent of deforestation from sourcing cattle. Further, titan companies like Marfrig source more than half (53 percent) of Amazon cattle from indirect suppliers. 

‘Cows are the new coal’

Jeremy Coller is chair of the FAIRR investor network, made up of members with $40 trillion in assets. 

In a statement, he said: “The post-COP26 era leaves large parts of the meat and dairy supply chain looking outdated and unattractive. Failures from methane to manure management underline the growing sense in the market that cows are the new coal.

“As the largest driver of both methane from human activity and deforestation, the ambitions set at COP26 handed a big slice of responsibility to the food and agriculture sector. We cannot deliver the COP26 commitments without addressing the protein supply chain.”

The fact that just one in five meat and dairy giants measure even part of their methane emissions is a “red flag to markets,” he added, since COP26 pledged to cut methane by 30 percent within the decade.

Eugenie Mathieu, Senior Analyst at Aviva Investors, echoed these sentiments. “The science is clear that to avoid runaway climate change, high-emitting sectors such as agriculture must transform themselves in the next decade,” Mathieu said. “Yet FAIRR’s latest research shows how far the food sector has to go.”

He added that the meat and dairy industry’s reluctance to set “meaningful” climate goals is “enormously unhelpful given that extreme weather events are increasingly hurting the bottom lines of these companies.”

The post McDonald’s And KFC Meat Suppliers Are Failing To Take ‘Meaningful’ Climate Action appeared first on Plant Based News.

It’s come as reducing methane emissions is regarded ‘the single most effective strategy’ in reducing global warming, the European Commission said in a statement.

Rapidly reducing methane emissions

Countries signing the pledge will commit to a collective goal of cutting emissions by 2030. According to the EU Commission, delivering the pledge will result in limiting warming to 0.2 degrees celsius by 2050. 

The pledge was agreed upon at a virtual conference of world leaders. Here, they discussed the importance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees within reach, as well as reaching global net-zero emissions.

Moreover, a host of countries agreed to sign up, such as Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the UK, the US, Iraq, Ghana, as well as the European Union.

Among these supporters are six of the top 15 methane emitters globally, The White House revealed in a statement. And together globally, they contribute to one-fifth of methane emissions.

Why is methane bad for the environment?

It’s often described as a ‘short-lived’ climate pollutant. But methane is also ten times more powerful than CO2 in warming the atmosphere.

Methane increases are human-caused. This includes fossil fuels, waste, and agriculture, says the UN in its Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions report. Within this, it is agriculture that accounts for 40 percent: with animal agriculture making up for 32 percent.

Reductions will both mitigate climate change. And, prevent more than 755,000 asthma-related deaths, the report reads.

It adds: “The existence of readily available, low-cost, targeted measures. And, methane’s short-lived atmospheric lifetime means significant climate and clean air benefits can be achieved by 2030.”

The post 8 Countries Pledge To Slash Methane Emissions By 30% Over Coming Decade appeared first on Plant Based News.

Published by Dr. Sailesh Rao, Executive Director of Climate Healers and Executive Producer of documentaries including What The Health and Cowspiracy, the white paper states animal agriculture accounts for an estimated 87 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The report also claims that the annual methane emissions from Animal Agriculture alone causes more incremental global warming than the annual CO2 emissions from all fossil fuel sources combined.

‘Urgent’ change

“In this paper, we will show that this strategy of focusing exclusively on the reduction of fossil fuel burning will accelerate climate change, potentially to the point of no return,” the study reads.

“This paper [also] clearly illustrates why the scientific community, government institutions, corporations and news media, who vastly underestimate the role of Animal Agriculture and focus primarily on reducing fossil fuel use, need to urgently change their priorities in order to be effective.”

‘A global plant-based economy’

In its conclusion, the report illustrates ‘the need to transition to a global plant-based economy first and that blindly eliminating fossil fuel usage first will accelerate the warming of the planet’. 

You can read the full report here

The post Animal Agriculture Branded ‘Leading Cause Of Climate Change’ In New Report appeared first on Plant Based News.

Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] has highlighted the dairy industry as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in a recent report.

According to the data, Irish animal agriculture was responsible for a 2.7 percent increase of greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.

In total, the country emitted 61.19 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2016 – representing a total of 3.5 percent increase from 2015.

The repots says the most significant driver within agriculture is the number of dairy cows – which has risen by 22 percent in the last four years, with greenhouse gas emissions rising by eight percent during that period.

Climate change

According to the report, ‘overall emissions trends are increasing, making achievement of Ireland’s long-term decarbonization goals ever more difficult’.

Under The Paris Agreement, countries worldwide are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – or to ‘decarbonize’ – in a bid to address climate change.

The new data found that transport emissions have also increased by 3.7 percent in 2016, while energy industry emissions grew by 6.1 percent.

‘Significant risks’

Dr. Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability said: “We need to adopt a much greater sense of urgency about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while radically improving energy efficiency.

“Ireland must optimize agricultural production to ensure long term environmental integrity and sustainability. 

“The growth in this sector, particularly for dairy and other cattle, points to very significant risks in relation to meeting our decarbonisation objectives.”

READ MORE:

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The post Irish Environment Report Highlights Dairy Industry’s Role In Climate Change appeared first on Plant Based News.

Greenhouse gas methane emissions from cattle are larger than previously estimated, according to new data.

Revised calculations from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) – which urges leaders to take action on climate change – show that global livestock emissions in 2011 were 11 percent higher than predicted. 

IPCC scientists believe this newfound evidence poses additional threats in the fight to curb global warming.

‘Out-of-date’

US Deparment of Agriculture researcher Julie Wolf said in a statement: “In many regions, livestock numbers are changing, and breeding has resulted in larger animals with higher intakes of food.

“This, along with changes in livestock management, can lead to higher methane emissions.”

Wolf also highlighted that earlier estimates were based on ‘out-of-date data’.

Earlier research also shows that the concentration of methane in the air has climbed 10 times more quickly in the last decade, compared to years 2000 to 2006.

Animal industry

“As our diets become more meat – and dairy-rich, so the hidden climate cost of our food tends to mount up,” said professor Dave Reay from the University of Edinburgh.

He told The Guardian: “Cows belching less methane may not be as eye-catching as wind turbines and solar panels, but they are just as vital for addressing climate change.”

The study also noted that methane emissions from livestock have risen most sharply in regions of Asia, Latin America, and Africa; however, emissions in US, Canada, and Europe have declined.

READ MORE:

New Report: We Must Switch From Animal To Plant Protein To ‘Fix Broken Food System’

‘Eat More Meat To Save The Environment’: Is Dietitian Tim Noakes Right?

Today Is World Day For Farmed Animals: Help Share A Powerful Message

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