Fun fact: cow burps are a shockingly big factor in the overheating of the planet. But one startup has a way to change that — all while making the cows larger and more productive, MIT Technology Review reported.
The issue is methane. Harvested from underground, it's sold as the fuel we know as natural gas. But when it escapes into the atmosphere, it's a potent heat-trapping substance that warms up the planet.
Methane does escape from fuel companies' wells, but it also escapes from cows. The natural process of fermentation that takes place in a cow's stomach produces methane as a byproduct, expelled by burping.
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Yes — always 💯 That's bad news for the planet. But it's also bad news for farmers because, according to MIT Technology Review, more than 10% of the energy a cow consumes goes into that methane, which is getting lost to the environment instead of building up the animal's valuable meat or its milk supply.
Enter Australian startup Rumin8. Researchers at this company are developing a supplement that cuts cows' methane production in half — all while returning that energy to the animal. They pollute less while growing heavier and giving more milk.
Rumin8 doesn't just have one product in development — it has three. "One," the supplement closest to being finished, is designed to be added to the feed of cows living on feedlots.
But that isn't practical for grazing cows who get their food from the Earth, so Rumin8 is also developing a supplement to add to drinking water and a slow-release capsule that delivers six months' worth of the treatment in one dose.
That pitch — a supplement that pays for itself in meat and milk while making animal agriculture better for the planet — is why Rumin8 was chosen as one of MIT Technology Review's 2024 Climate Tech Companies to Watch. If it stays on track, the startup could release its products in Brazil in 2026 and in the U.S. by 2027.
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