Cows are ruminants, so they blast out about 200L of methane a day (roughly the firepower of one butane gas canister).
They eat like crazy, but 10% of that intake turns into methane and flies into the air, making beef's greenhouse gas emissions way higher than pork or chicken.
People tried everything to stop this, like trying to capture methane directly from the cow, but separating methane is a nightmare. At this rate, beef was gonna get hit with a massive carbon tax, and prices were set to skyrocket within 10 years (Denmark plans to tax cows up to $300/year starting in 2035).
But then, 3-NOP (Bovaer 10) showed up.
Just by adding a tiny bit of powder to their daily feed, methane emissions drop by up to 45% (Dairy 20-35%, Beef 30-45%). It's proven not to change the quality of meat or milk. It costs about $55-$75 per cow a year, but it reduces 25-30kg of methane. It might seem pricey, but since $100 for reducing 1 ton of CO2 is a good deal, itโs a solid candidate for subsidies.
Korea approved it in 2024, and Nonghyup is distributing feed with 3-NOP. TL;DR: 1. The world is doing all sorts of desperate stunts to cut greenhouse gases. 2. They found a 'one-click' fix for cow farts. 3. Between 'Stop eating beef next year' and 'Find a way to keep eating it,' humans always choose the latter.
"Users are geeking out over the science of 'fart-suppressing' feed, seeing it as a win for humanity's desperate struggle to keep eating real beef and avoid a future of eating bugs."
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