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Thelatest estimates put annual global methane emissions at 580million tonnes (Mts) per year , creating atmosphericconcentrations that are 2½ times denser than preindustriallevels.
About 25%of that methane comes from the agricultural sector alone — mostlyfrom gassy cows whose burpscontain methane .
With an estimated 1.4billion cows worldwide and each cow belching approximately 220pounds of methane each year, those burps add up. PresidentBiden has even supported a bill that would tackle this issue, tothe tune of $20 billion , due to its impact on the environment.
That’s whycompanies like Pond TechnologiesHoldings Inc. ( OTCQB: PNDHF ) areexploring cost-effective, scalable ways to cut agricultural methaneemissions and help nations around the world meet their Global MethanePledge.
Nations Need To Cut MethaneEmissions If They Hope To Hit Net Zero Goals
As part of the GlobalMethane Pledge launched at the 2021 United Nations Climate ChangeConference (COP26) last year, 111 countries collectively responsiblefor 45% of methane emissions committed to reduce those emissions to30% below 2020 levels by 2030.
Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gassesin Earth’s atmosphere — it has over 80times the warming power of carbon dioxide and accounts for asmuch as 30% of the global temperature increase scientists expect to see in thenext 20 years.
Because of this enhanced warming effect, cutting 170 Mts, 30%of 2020 levels, in methane emissions would be the equivalent ofscrubbing 4.7 billionto 6.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from theatmosphere per year.
If the global temperature increase surpasses 1.5 C above itspre industrial average, scientists warn of the following changes in ourclimate could occur:
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Extreme heatevents — like the recent record-breaking heat wave that swept Europethis summer, sparking wildfires in four countries and contributing toover 1,000deaths — that used to happen once a decade or less wouldhappen more than four times per decade.
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The risk of severe flooding will more thandouble for 73% of the world’s population.
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The total forest area at risk of forestfires would nearly double in the United States alone and fires couldbecome about 37% more frequent.
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An average of more than 114 million peopleeach month will be exposed to extreme drought conditions that couldruin food crops and make already-scarce drinking water even harder tocome by.
CurbingAgricultural Emissions Might Hinge On Discovering An Anti-Methane DietFor Livestock
Methane in agriculture is produced primarily by livestock —especially cows — as their digestive process producesmethane as a byproduct that is released when they burp. Thatmeans tackling methane levels for farmers means devising a way to makecows burp less.
The approach that’s made the most progress is changingcows’ diet. Royal DSM (OTCQX: KDSKF), for example, hasalready shown some success with this approach using a feed additivecalled Bovaer that’s been shown to reduce methane from burping by around30% .
Algae May Hold AnotherKey To Slashing Methane Emissions
In April, Pond Technologies partnered with Cross River Infrastructure Partners LLC and Livalta/AB Agri, asubsidiary of Associated British Foods plc (LSE: ABF) toidentify algae strains that could reduce methane emissions when addedto livestock feed.
The research partnership could be a promising one as aseparate study of red macroalgae (seaweed) found that it couldcut methane emissions by up to 80% when added to cattle feed. However,scaling the production of seaweed would require turning large swathsof shorelines into seaweed farms, which could end up having its ownenvironmental impacts on ocean and coastal ecosystems.
That’s why Pond ispartnering with these companies to explore microalgae strains thatcould offer the same methane-busting benefits as seaweed. Pond hasalready deployed what it reports is an innovative, scalable algae growsystem that allows producers to grow microalgae in tanks wherethe conditions are optimized for algae growth.
The tanks also help cutCO2 emissions themselves. Because algae use CO2 to grow, theproprietary Pond tanks can take the raw stack gas from power plants,factories and other high-emission facilities and convert it intoclean, breathable air.
The goal, then, is to identify microalgae strains that can begrown in these CO2-scrubbing platforms so that the companies canharvest them and turn them into feed additives. That way, each batchis pulling double duty: scrubbing emissions as it grows in the tankand curbing emissions again after it’s fed to livestock.
Featured photo by Jan Koetsier on Pexels
AboutPond Technologies
Located in Markham, Ontario, Pond hasdeveloped a proprietary system that can profitably transform CO2 intovaluable products. Its Pond Carbon business focuses on absorbinggreenhouse gas emissions, transforming these into food, feed, andnutraceutical ingredients. Pond recently added a Biotech divisionfocused on the growth of unique strains of microalgae to be used as areproductive medium for the expression of human antibodies andproteins.
For more information, please visit https://www.pondtech.com/.
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