By Mike Samer I Co-Founder
When we think of damaging greenhouse gas emissions, cows are typically not the first things that come to mind.
However, with nearly 1.5 billion cattle on earth, they make up 15% to 18% of the planet's global greenhouse gas emissions. The entire transportation sector makes up 14% of greenhouse gasses, and "cow farts" create methane, not CO2, which is about 25 times more damaging when it comes to warming our planet.
According to research from the University of California Davis, Kelp may be the super organism needed to significantly reduce the methane produced by these gassy cattle. The early data is showing that adding a specific recipe of Kelp to 2% of a cow's diet reduces methane output from cattle from 50% to 90%. Seaweed also extracts so much C02 that it helps de-acidify our oceans. The problem? Global warming is leading to the destruction of our underwater kelp forests. Kelp is just as important to the ocean as trees are to land, and kelp needs to be re-planted with the same vigor as trees have been.
Kelp farming and GreenWave:
Part of the solution is entrepreneurs like Bren Smith of GreenWave, who once fished the oceans, but is now growing kelp and farming our oceans. GreenWave is supporting a new generation of ocean farmers to feed the planet, de-acidify our oceans and even produce the kelp needed to replace 2% of cattle's diet with seaweed, in turn greatly reducing methane that is 25 times more damaging to warming our planet than CO2.
