Curbs on Methane, Potent Greenhouse Gas, to Be Relaxed in U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration laid out on Thursday a far-reaching plan to cut back on the regulation of methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change.

Leaks from natural gas drilling, shipping and storage are one of the
main sources of methane emissions in the United States.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule aims to eliminate federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to detect and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities. It would also reopen the question of whether the E.P.A. had the legal authority to regulate methane as a pollutant. 

The rollback plan is particularly notable because major energy companies have, in fact, spoken out against it — joining automakers, electric utilities and other industrial giants that have opposed other administration initiatives to dismantle climate-change and environmental rules. 

Read the story from The New York Times by Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport - “Curbs on Methane, Potent Greenhouse Gas, to Be Relaxed in U.S..”

Should we stop eating meat? Not while humans are the real weapons of climate destruction

As we are starting to see the effects of climate change materialise in front of our eyes, people are looking for things they can do to help heal our planet. One common theme has been a call to stop eating meat, mainly due to methane emissions from cows.

‘The answer to reducing our impact on the climate
is not to stop eating meat, it is to properly manage
 land and livestock.

This is a simple answer, but I suggest it is an answer to the wrong question.

How did nature get things so horribly wrong when she allowed cows to evolve? After all, they are evil weapons of climate destruction, aren’t they?

Read the story from The Guardian by Tony Lovell - “Should we stop eating meat? Not while humans are the real weapons of climate destruction.”

Seaweed-fed cows could solve livestock industry's methane problems

Cattle on a CSIRO research station are being fed a mix of grain and seaweed to see if eating algae drastically reduces methane emissions in cows.

A CSIRO trial is underway to if feeding seaweed to
 cows drastically reduces their methane emissions

If successful, the trial could pave the way for a commercial Australian seaweed farming industry to help the overall livestock industry cut its methane emissions.

Agriculture contributes more than 15 per cent to Australia's overall greenhouse gas emissions, and almost 70 per cent of that is from sheep and cattle.

Research last year showed that in a laboratory setting, adding dried seaweed to a cow's diet could reduce the amount of methane it produced by up to 99 per cent.

Those results are now being put to the test in live cattle at the CSIRO's Lansdown Research Station, west of Townsville, in north Queensland.

Read the ABC News story - “Seaweed-fed cows could solve livestock industry's methane problems.”

Rumen research shows promising reduction in methane emissions and big weight gains in cattle

Less methane and more weight gain for
cattle is uncovered in research into
additives for cattle.

Research into the rumen of cattle has led to some encouraging results using additives to reduce methane emissions and increase weight gain.

The CSIRO trialled a synthetic and a natural compound in the feed of 10 animals in a Queensland research feedlot.

Team leader Ed Charmley said it reduced methane emissions by 30 per cent and increased weight gain in the cattle by 400–500 grams a day.

Lead researcher Gonzalo Martinez said the compounds promoted some bacteria and inhibited others.

"In this short experiment … one reduced the methane [by] targeting or eliminating the microbe that produced the methane, and another compound promoted another bacteria that used energy that wasn't available in the rumen, so the animal got a daily weight gain," he said.

Read the ABC Rural story - “Rumen research shows promising reduction in methane emissions and big weight gains in cattle.”

Fracking worsens methane emissions

Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry are responsible for the majority of the recent rise in global atmospheric methane, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This research adds to the growing body of evidence that disputes the fossil fuel industry's assertion that other sources of methane are causing the increase.

Fugitive fossil fuel methane emissions have increased by approximately 24 million tons per year since the 1980s, with much of the growth occurring after the year 2000—around when the shale gas boom began in the U.S.

Read the EcoWatch story - “Methane Emissions Rising From Fracking, New Study Shows.”