Burp by Burp, Fighting Emissions from Cows
A new compound may help slow climate change by reducing the methane belched by cattle.
At least one thing is true for cows around the world: They all burp. All the time.
This incessant belching expels an impressive volume of greenhouse gases—mostly methane and carbon dioxide. Added up, burps from cows account for 26 percent of the United States' total methane emissions.
But there is still hope for these gaseous beasts: Mixing their feed with a compound called 3-nitrooxypropanol, or 3NOP, may reduce the methane in cow burps by as much as 30 percent, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Cows, along with goats, sheep, buffalo, and even camels, are known as ruminant animals, and all of them burp methane. This powerful greenhouse gas comes from the
