Cow farts collected in plastic tank for global warming study

This theory was mentioned in Michael Heiser’s fiction book, The Facade. I thought it was rather silly at the time, but apparently some people are taking it seriously enough to collect bovine wind emissions.

From the: Telegraph

Experts said the slow digestive system of cows makes them a key producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide.

In a bid to understand the impact of the wind produced by cows on global warming, scientists collected gas from their stomachs in plastic tanks attached to their backs.

The Argentine researchers discovered methane from cows accounts for more than 30 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse emissions.

As one of the world’s biggest beef producers, Argentina has more than 55 million cows grazing in its famed Pampas grasslands.

Guillermo Berra, a researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology, said every cow produces between 8000 to 1,000 litres of emissions every day.

Methane, which is also released from landfills, coal mines and leaking gas pipes, is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

Scientists are now carrying out trials of new diets designed to improve cows’s digestion and hopefully reduce global warming. Silvia Valtorta, of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Investigations, said that by feeding cows clover and alfalfa instead of grain “you can reduce methane emissions by 25 percent”.

July 11, 2008 | Filed Under fuel

comments

3 Responses to “Cow farts collected in plastic tank for global warming study”

Michael S Heiser on July 11th, 2008

Hey … I’m not a prophet … really … I think.

Nice post - enjoyed it! I’ll be linking to it from one of my blogs (www.michaelsheiser.com/EveryThoughtCaptive). There have been three or four things that have made the news this year that I “foresaw” in The Facade. Nothing spooky - I just wasn’t lying when I said all the data points in the book are real, the only fiction being the way they are connected and the characters.

Mike
Cow Farts … Was it a Prophecy? | EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE on July 11th, 2008

[...] a fun and cool link to a blogger that recently posted on cow fart collection as a global warming experiment. (Not [...]
Joshuah on July 14th, 2008

We are happy that “The Mike” took a few moments to comment on the article about cow flatulence. Your work on the Divine Council has been thought provoking for us, and we are eagerly awaiting the publication of it in book form.