Scientists Develop Antidote for Burping Sheep
Date: 22-Jun-04
Country: USA
The Hanover-based monthly Technology Review will report in its July issue that Andre-Denis Wright, a molecular biologist at Australia's CSIRO Institute, has found a vaccine that reduced the methane emissions of sheep by eight percent.
The magazine said that scientists believe the amounts can be reduced even further and more testing is planned.
Sheep produce 20 grams of methane each day, or seven kg per year, the magazine with 80,000 subscribers reported. Cows produce about 114 kg per year of methane (CH4) - a gas 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for driving up temperatures.
Much of the methane gas comes from agriculture, such as livestock emissions from cows and sheep, and waste dumps.
