Project Description

Why are we tackling this problem?

The global warming induced by methane has contributed to a range of critical issues, including rising temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events that worsen air quality, increased drought occurrences, and a rise in vector-borne diseases (European Commission, 2023). These factors collectively contribute to higher mortality rates among humans and other organisms.

According to the Global Methane Assessment by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), reducing methane-associated GHGs could prevent more than 200,000 premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits due to asthma, and more than 20 million tonnes of crop losses annually by 2030 (2023).

This is made easier by methane’s relatively shorter life-span of 7-12 years (Reisinger et al., 2021). Unlike persistent GHGs that remain in the atmosphere for centuries, methane's shorter duration means that reducing its emissions can lead to more immediate reductions in its warming effect. By decreasing methane emissions, we can mitigate its rapid contribution to global warming and potentially achieve quicker reductions in atmospheric GHG levels compared to longer-lived gases.

Why cows specifically?

Enteric methane generated by anaerobic activity of methanogenic archaea in the rumen of cattle is the largest source of anthropogenic CH4 emissions (Reisinger et al., 2024). A fully developed cow can emit up to 500 litres of methane each day, accounting for approximately 3.7% of all GHG emissions.

Dairy/beef products are popular, particularly with a growing human population, and consumer behaviour alone is unlikely to change sufficiently to reduce climate change. As of 2023, in North America:

Approximatly

90

Million Farmed Cattle

in the United States — raised for a variety of food and consumer products including beef, veal, dairy and leather (United States Department of Agriculture, 2024)

Targeting cattle provides for significant opportunity to reduce methane emissions and mitigate climate change.

The rumen of cattle offers a unique environment for addressing this issue. Unlike greenhouse gases from industrial or domestic sources, mitigation measures can be implemented within a naturally occurring system in a way that is more realistic and less invasive than other means of reducing anthropogenic methane emissions in the sector. Instead of investing in alternate manure management approaches, such as anaerobic digesters, or expensive precision equipment (i.e., sensors), we can address the issue internally by altering microbial activity, at little inconvenience to agricultural stakeholders.

Our solution developed through synthetic biology can be easily scaled up and distributed widely, ensuring that the benefits of reduced methane emissions can be realized across large populations of livestock efficiently without requiring significant changes in farming infrastructure.

Not only that, our approach also easily complements other emission reduction measures, such as improved feeding strategies or breeding programs for low-methane-emitting cattle.

References

Altermann, E., Schofield, L. R., Ronimus, R. S., Beatty, A. K., & Reilly, K. (2018). Inhibition of Rumen Methanogens by a Novel Archaeal Lytic Enzyme Displayed on Tailored Bionanoparticles. Frontiers in microbiology, 9, 2378. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02378 Bačėninaitė, D., Džermeikaitė, K., & Antanaitis, R. (2022). Global Warming and Dairy Cattle: How to Control and Reduce Methane Emission. Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 12(19), 2687. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12192687 European Commision (2023). Methane emissions. https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/carbon-management-and-fossil-fuels/methane-emissions_en Hodge, I., Quille, P., & O'Connell, S. (2024). A Review of Potential Feed Additives Intended for Carbon Footprint Reduction through Methane Abatement in Dairy Cattle. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 14(4), 568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040568 Reisinger, A., Clark, H., Cowie, A. L., Emmet-Booth, J., Gonzalez Fischer, C., Herrero, M., Howden, M., & Leahy, S. (2021). How necessary and feasible are reductions of methane emissions from livestock to support stringent temperature goals?. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 379(2210), 20200452. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0452 Saadaoui, I., Rasheed, R., Aguilar, A. et al. Microalgal-based feed: promising alternative feedstocks for livestock and poultry production. J Animal Sci Biotechnol 12, 76(2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-021-00593-z Statistics Canada (2024, February 23). Number of cattle, by class and farm type. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3210013001#timeframe UNEP (2023). Methane emissions are driving climate change. here’s how to reduce them. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/methane-emissions-are-driving-climate-change-heres-how-reduce-them United States Department of Agriculture (2024). United States cattle inventory down 2%. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2024/01-31-2024.php Weimer P. J. (2022). Degradation of Cellulose and Hemicellulose by Ruminal Microorganisms. Microorganisms, 10(12), 2345. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122345