In the most 2020 headline ever, fast food chain Burger King is developing a new diet for cows that reduces their burps and farts, thereby reducing methane emissions. Apparently, introducing lemongrass into the diet reduces cow gas by up to 33%.
Every little bit counts, right? Click here to see why we’re even worrying about cow farts to begin with.
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Burger King is debuting a new Whopper made from cows that burp and fart 33% less
By Kate Taylor, Business Insider, July 14, 2020
- Burger King is teaming up with researchers at two universities to concoct a diet for cows that will reduce the amount of methane they emit through burps and farts. By simply adding 100 grams of lemongrass to the diet, cows release “roughly 33% less methane in the last three to four months of their lives.”
- Cattle are responsible for around 14.5% of global emissions, though not all of those emissions come out of their front or back ends. Industry-related fertilizing, overgrazing, deforestation and transportation are greater producers to climate change.
- Along with a new TV ad, Burger King is featuring Whoppers with “reduced emissions beef” in Miami, New York, Austin, Portland and Los Angeles.
Mexico Announces Phase-Out and Ban on Glyphosate Herbicides
Sustainable Pulse, June 27, 2020
- Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources revealed a plan to reduce and ban glyphosate use in Mexico. The plan calls for a gradual reduction until reaching a total ban in 2024.
- The plan is part of an effort to make the country’s food system “safer, healthier and more environmentally friendly.” The organization previously halted the import of “a thousand tons of glyphosate.”
- From the article: “San Vicente Tello said that, together with the National Council of Science and Technology, she is analyzing alternatives to the use of glyphosate-herbicides for large-scale agricultural production, as there are many weed management experiences with methods that farmers themselves and indigenous communities have applied for thousands of years.”
Austin, Texas, puts a price on carbon
By Flannery Winchester, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, July 9, 2020
- Austin’s new REACH (Reduce Emissions Affordably for Climate Health) plan ties the ecological price of burning coal into the consumer price of coal power. On average the cost rises from $0.02/kWh to $0.026/kWH.
- The slight increase makes clean energy — wind, solar and hydro — cheaper than coal. Austin’s only remaining coal plant will only be used during high demand, and is scheduled to close in 2022.
- From the article: “The plan states, “Thereafter, the REACH plan is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 8% each year, until achieving zero carbon emissions by 2035.” The city will maintain that rate of decarbonizing by placing a small carbon price on its natural gas electricity generation after the coal plant is closed.”
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Feature photo by Jonathan Bölz on Unsplash.
