RESEARCH ▶▶▶
Feed additive cuts cow emissions by half
A new project in Denmark aims to reduce dairy cows’ methane emissions by 50% through a triple-action cattle feed additive developed to limit the enteric formation of methane.
BY NATALIE BERKHOUT I
ntensive research has been conducted in recent years to find ways to reduce methane emissions from ruminants, which are responsible for almost 40% of the total green- house gas emissions from Danish agriculture and for 51% of the emissions from Danish cattle herds, it is reported. Research suggests that the best and most realistic way to achieve lower methane emissions from cows is via the feed. However, so far, no sufficiently efficient solution has been found. A team at Aarhus University, however, are set to de- velop a solution through a research project, No-Methane, which has been granted 16.1 million kroner (US$ 2.6 million) by Innovation Fund Denmark. As a result of the work being done by the researchers dairy cows will have a much smaller impact on the climate. By combining three different agents, the team aims to reduce the methane-forming processes in a cow’s rumen without affecting the animal’s productivity and health.
A triple-action approach The team has devised a triple-action approach involving the following ‘agents’: • Limiting the availability of hydrogen. Hydrogen is formed when feed is fermented by rumen bacteria. Hydrogen is used by a certain class of microorganisms, called archaea, to form methane. The project will use specific probiotic bacteria which can use hydrogen in other processes so that the archaea do not have access to so much hydrogen.
• Limiting methane-forming archaea in the rumen. This is done by means of special strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and naturally occurring vira in the cow’s rumen.
• Inhibiting the formation of methane by using a specific compound. This compound inhibits the enzyme formed by the methane-forming archaea, which is necessary to change hydrogen into methane.
Methane producing microorganisms Project leader at the Department of Animal Science at Aarhus University, Professor Mette Olaf Nielsen: “When cows are in focus in the climate debate, it is important to be aware that it is actually not the cow itself that produces methane, but a special domain of microorganisms, archaea, in the cow’s ru- men. With our triple-action approach, whihc is designed to inhibit the formation of methane we expect that the archaea that form methane will be under such big pressure that they will reduce the formation of methane by half. We would not be able to obtain that result with each of the individual agents separately.”
Additive fed to 80% of Danish dairy cows A feed additive that combines two of the three agents, name- ly the strains of LAB and the special compound, is expected to be fully developed by the end of the project in 2025, with a capacity to inhibit methane formation by up to 40%. On completion of the project, and once the third agent is ap- proved for market, the new triple-action feed additive will be able to reduce methane formation by 50%, according to the researchers. Furthermore, the team predicts that up to 80% of Danish dairy cows will be fed the new (or other) additives in 2030. This will translate into a remarkable reduction of greenhouse gases from Danish dairy cows, estimated to be 0.76 million tonnes CO2
eq in 2030. ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 29, No. 7, 2021 29
A cow in respira- tion chambers, where they will be placed to quantify the im- pact of the feed additive on methane emis- sions.
PHOTO: MIRKA THORSTEINSSON, AARHUS UNIVERSITY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
