What are the pros and cons of using seaweed to fight methane in livestock?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-03-22 08:41

New Zealand

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asparagopsis_taxiformis_R%C3%A9union.JPG

Livestock like cattle, sheep, and deer account for almost a quarter of global methane emissions, and adding a red seaweed called Asparagopsis to their diets has been a much discussed way of reducing their methane emissions. A new review by NZ and Australian researchers weighed up the benefits and risks of large-scale seaweed use in ruminants’ meals, concluding that wide supplementation at the minimum effective level poses a low risk to animal health, food quality or ozone depletion.

Media release

From:

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research Elsevier, Web page

Journal/
conference: Algal Research

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Waikato, CSIRO, James Cook University, Cawthron Institute

Funder: Magnusson and Glasson are funded via the Entrepreneurial Universities Macroalgal Biotechnologies Programme, jointly funded by the University of Waikato and the Tertiary Education Commission. Packer and Adams received funding via grant #SFFF19041 “Commercial Seaweed Aquaculture to Reduce Agricultural Methane Emissions”. None of the funding bodies had any involvement in the conduct of the research; preparation of the article; study design; the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.