In an attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Australian scientists are hoping to breed ‘low-emissions’ sheep that will belch less methane into the atmosphere.
According to the scientists, methane has about 17 times the environmental warming capacity of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
Twelve percent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions originate with agriculture, and some 70 percent of that amount is blamed on ruminant livestock, with most of it coming from burps, study leader John Goopy said.
Before they can design a greener sheep, the scientists first have to calculate the amount of gas that actually comes out with each burp. And no matter which way you spin it, that means somebody has to go in and measure burps. But how?
The scientists wait until after the sheep have gorged themselves, then herd the animals into what can only be described as a burp booth, where some unlucky soul is charged with calculating the post-meal emissions.
“The biggest single determinant of methane production in cattle and sheep is the amount of feed they eat. But even once that is taken into account, I have found significant differences between individual animals,” Goopy told AFP.
The goal of the study is to discover whether there is a genetic link shared between sheep that belch less methane. Scientists believe that if they can pinpoint that hereditary link they will be able to breed for the outcome of a greener sheep.
[Goopy] said if the methane produced by Australia’s 80 million or so sheep was reduced by just 10 or 15 percent in the next decade, it would have “a substantial and also a long-term impact on our greenhouse gas emissions”.
[Via: PhysOrg]
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