Author Archives: LamontMcdonald

Here’s a new way to keep cattle burps from toasting the planet

The gas is almost greener

Here’s a new way to keep cattle burps from toasting the planet

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Telling cows to eat more slowly and avoid cola won’t do much to curb their incessant belching. But the Dutch company DSM has developed a more bovine-appropriate solution for the climate-wrecking problem of cattle gassiness.

Staff scientists and academic researchers funded by the company have developed a powder that can be mixed in with cattle feed, interfering with the microorganisms that produce methane. Newsweek reports:

“In trials we’ve managed to reduce methane emissions by up to 60 percent,” says Petra Simic, a biochemist who directs DSM’s cow-methane efforts. “We have solid proof of concept that our compound does what it’s supposed to do. What we’re working on now is figuring out the best way of mixing it into the cow’s feed.”

They are also testing the feed’s safety. Without a guarantee that it’s completely safe for their animals, virtually no farmer would agree to use the additive. Perhaps more important, the scientists are working to make sure the milk and beef will taste the same as the regular variety—if they don’t, it will never sell.

Meanwhile, scientists elsewhere are experimenting with vaccines to help reduce methane emissions from cattle.

This is an important field of research. Livestock emit about a third of the greenhouse gases from the U.S. agricultural sector. Holding down levels of methane that bubble out of cattle orifices could help hold down global temperatures.


Source
Putting an End to Gassy Cows, Newsweek

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Food

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Here’s a new way to keep cattle burps from toasting the planet

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California’s cap-and-trade program could fund high-speed rail

California’s cap-and-trade program could fund high-speed rail

California High-Speed Rail Authority

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) wants to take $250 million raised by the state’s cap-and-trade program and put it toward high-speed rail. That plan is expected to be part of the budget he unveils on Friday, The Sacramento Bee reports.

The rail project would carry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours by 2029, then be extended to reach San Diego and Sacramento. A $250 million infusion “could provide a significant lift to the project,” the Bee reports — a lift that’s sorely needed. The project has been beset by problems, and finding tens of billions of dollars to pay for it has proven challenging.

From the L.A. Times:

Brown has sold his plan for a high-speed railway as an environmentally friendly alternative to air or automobile travel, but the plan has lost popularity with the public, been derided by Republican leaders in Congress and been dealt a number of legal setbacks in the courts.

In 2008, California voters approved the sale of $10 billion in bonds to help pay for the bullet train, but the courts have questioned Brown’s construction and financing plan for the project. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he will not sell any more bonds to pay for the project until the courts determine that the governor’s plan is legal.

Brown’s new idea for funding the rail line would still leave about $500 million in carbon-trading revenue for other environmental and climate initiatives, but some environmentalists “have bristled at the idea of using cap-and-trade money for high-speed rail, saying other projects could have a more immediate impact on greenhouse gas reduction,” according to the Bee.

Enviros are also still pissed that Brown borrowed $500 million of cap-and-trade funds last year to help fill a budget hole. He’s expected to propose paying $100 million of that back in his upcoming budget.


Source
Jerry Brown wants to use pollution funds for bullet train, Los Angeles Times
Jerry Brown’s cap-and-trade proposal for high-speed rail said to be $250 million, The Sacramento Bee

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Politics

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California’s cap-and-trade program could fund high-speed rail

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Romanian villagers block Chevron frackers

Romanian villagers block Chevron frackers

Chevron

The yellow means “drill” to Chevron. Romanians disagree. 

On Monday, a bunch of Romanians told Chevron to go to hell and take their fracking operations with them. (It probably sounded more like “du-te dracului.”) Chevron workers were sent to drill the company’s first test well in the southeastern European country, but they were turned back by protests.

Romania’s government sold Chevron the rights to frack the shale beneath more than a million acres of Romania. Residents worried about the environmental consequences are accusing Prime Minister Victor Ponta of breaking an election promise to block drilling for shale gas.

More from Agence France-Presse on the protests near the village of Pungesti:

The convoy was forced to turn around as protesters, some of whom had come in horse-drawn carts, called on Chevron to “go home”. …

“We will not let them drill here if we must die for this,” said one of the villagers, Gheorghe Hrum, a retired forest warden.

“They came with policemen and bodyguards to scare us but all we want is to be left alone, even if we are poor,” he added.

It has been a busy couple days for eco-minded Romanians. On Sunday, thousands of Romanians poured into downtown Bucharest and into the streets of smaller cities to protest plans by Gabriel Resources for a new gold mine. The Canadian company wants to use cyanide to mine four mountains for hundreds of tons of gold and silver.


Source
Thousands in Romania Protest Plans for Gold Mine, AP
Romania anti-fracking protesters block Chevron test drilling, AFP

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Climate & Energy

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