"Can We Grow Enough Seaweed to Help Cows Fight Climate Change?"

"Over the past few months, graduate students and researchers at California’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories have scoured coastal waters, collecting seaweed in the hopes of finding a native species that could help gassy cows.

Cows belch—a lot. And their burps (as well as those of other ruminants) make them the top polluters of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. As pressure to reduce heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere mounts, an increasing body of research has shown that seaweed added to cattle feed could dramatically reduce livestock’s impact.

The challenge: where will the enormous supply of seaweed—enough to impact millions of cows—come from? And at what cost?"

Gosia Wozniacka reports for Civil Eats June 3, 2019.