Seasoning Feedstocks With Curry Spices Cuts Methane Emissions from Livestock by 40 Percent
Cutting Emissions from Cows Annie Kavanagh via Wikimedia UK researchers seeking to cut back on greenhouse gases have found a deliciously potent weapon for fighting agricultural methane emissions: curry. It turns out two spices customarily used to season curry dishes -- coriander and turmeric -- have an antibiotic effect in the stomachs of sheep and cows, killing methane-producing bacteria there. By spicing up animal feeds, farmers could reduce methane emissions from farms by up to 40 percent. Methane, of course, is one of the more damaging greenhouse gases, and while it doesn't exist in the same quantities as carbon dioxide, it is more than 20 times more powerful in terms of contributing to the greenhouse effect. Through belching, a single sheep emits about 0.7 cubic feet of methane per day. Cows are much more of an ecological nuisance, each belching nearly 18 cubic feet of methane into the air per day. Aside...