Today’s Solutions: November 22, 2024

The burning of agricultural waste and the methane that’s burped up by cows are two major sources of greenhouse gases. An experimental new type of animal feed, however, is aimed at reducing both the burning and the burps.

Developed by scientists at Spain’s Polytechnic University of Valencia, the new diet includes the rice straw that’s left in the fields after harvesting and the leaves that are pruned from orange and lemon trees which, normally, would end up being burned. Other ingredients are also added to ensure that all the nutritional needs of the animal are met without harming or altering the productive level of the animals.

The feed is intended not only for cows but also for other ruminant livestock, such as goats, water buffalo, and yaks, along with camelid livestock, like camels, llamas, and alpacas. In field tests where it was fed to some such animals, it was claimed to reduce their methane emissions by 8 to 22 percent.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Changemakers of the week: GRuB and SparkNJ

Every day on the Optimist Daily, we report on solutions from around the world. Though we love solutions big and small, the ones that ...

Read More

The giant beneath the waves: world’s largest coral found in the Pacific

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a world where bad news about the environment routinely outweighs good news, scientists have discovered an incredible ...

Read More

Tortoise discovered in a home in Pompeii

Almost 2000 years after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and its trapping of the city of Pompeii in time, archaeologists are still making discoveries ...

Read More

Revel at the most detailed image of our universe yet

Here at The Optimist Daily, we have been sharing every exciting step of the James Webb Telescope’s journey, from its long-awaited launch, to when ...

Read More