Passing Less GHG

Scientists in Australia and New Zealand are working to create a variety of grass that would lower the amount of Methane produced by cud-chewing cattle. This story shows just how many ways we can approach the GHG issue. The old story of Stone Soup illustrates how with the cooperation and enthusiasm of the villagers a great feast can come together from modest beginnings.

These scientists from Gramina and PGG Wrightson Genomics are using their expertise in Molecular Plant Breeding to contribute what they can to the global stone soup of GHG reduction. This new variety of low-gas grass is engineered to suppress an enzyme called O-methyl transferase, which makes the complex cellulose structure of the grass more easily digestible.

The effort is being made to make this grass viable in hotter climates which shows that these scientists are thinking ahead to time when grazing land could become dependant on heat-tolerant grass.

Methane is many times more polluting than the CO2 that much of the Carbon Community is busy working to reduce. Since most every animal on earth produces methane as a natural by-product of digestion, this is an area that needs more investigation.