On Friday, the Obama administration stated that it would make a multi-pronged attack on cow flatulence, in an attempt to cut methane emissions.
As a result, windy cows have come under renewed scrutiny by scientists, who plan to capture their harmful emissions and convert them into ‘green’ energy.
But scientists in Argentina believe they have come up with a solution – cow backpacks that can be used to trap the animal’s natural gas.
The ‘fartpacks’ extract 300 litres of methane a day from a tube inserted into the cow’s digestive tract and convert it into enough energy to run a car for 24 hours.
The tube running to the animals’ stomachs collects the gas inside the backpacks, which are then hung from the roof of the corral for analysis.
The systems have been under development by Argentina’s National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) for a number of years and are still at proof-of-concept stage.
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Fri Apr 18, 2014 11:16 am
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Front Porch Punditry