Can A Vaccine Reduce Methane Emissions From Cow Burps?

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Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, and rapid and sustained cuts in emissions from the energy sector are imperative to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. Livestock account for about 11%–17% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, more than all the world’s cars and trucks combined. Methane is formed as cows digest their fibrous diet, and methane emission rates from cow burps can fluctuate significantly over a day.

Who knew all those cow burps were so devastating to the environment?

More than a billion cattle inhabit the earth. Cow burps are the cause of much concern and are driving researchers to find ways to reduce methane emissions from grazers. Existing approaches that include improved animal husbandry practices, feed additives, and breeding low-methane livestock have delivered mixed results.

A breakthrough in solving cow burps may have been found, though. A Boston agricultural biotechnology firm is working on a vaccine that would be administered to cattle to reduce methane emissions caused by a group of microorganisms in their stomachs.

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Colin South is CEO of ArkeaBio, an ag-biotech start-up with a mission to develop a safe, user-friendly, and cost-conscious vaccine to reduce ruminant methane emissions that will work with existing global agribusiness practices. The company has been testing a vaccine candidate for about a year in cattle trials with help from researchers at Texas A&M University, South told the Boston Globe. The goal is for the US Department of Agriculture to give the go-ahead to their vaccine in the next few years.

ArkeaBio has about 20 employees and is located — ironically — in the former Hood Milk Plant in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

“We’ve moved a long way over the last 18 months or so,” said South, who grew up on a 1,000-head sheep farm in New Zealand and has a PhD in bioprocess engineering from Dartmouth College. “We’re confident from what we’re seeing that the mechanism of action does work.”

Ruminant livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats) account for 16% of global methane (CH4) emissions, of which 35% and 30% correspond to beef and dairy industries. Methane is an unnecessary by-product of microbial fermentation of mainly complex carbohydrates in the rumen, synthesized by methanogenic archaea and released into the environment through the animal’s mouth and nose. Enteric methane production typically exhibits a diurnal pattern influenced by feeding and meal consumption timings. These microbes produce methane (from the fermentation of feed) that is then belched out.

ArkeaBio is working on a vaccine that would target a methane-producing subset called methanogens. The vaccine would stimulate antibodies to bind to and neutralize methanogens. There’s no indication that this would harm cattle, South said. The shot would likely be administered a couple of times a year. Cattle already receive regular vaccinations to protect them from brucellosis, respiratory diseases, bovine viral diarrhea, and other ailments.

ArkeaBio recently announced that it had raised $26.5 million in a financing round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate-focused fund started by Bill Gates. Breakthrough also led a seed round of $12 million in 2022.

“Reducing methane emissions from the agricultural sector is one of the most pressing challenges in today’s fight against climate change,” Chris Rivest, chair at ArkeaBio and a partner at Breakthrough, said in a statement. “ArkeaBio’s approach using innovative vaccine technologies will create effective and massively scalable solutions.”

Further commitments, particularly in financing, are needed to deliver the methane reductions required this decade. A privately-held startup, ArkeaBio announced the close of a $26.5 million Series A financing round in May. The raise was led by current investor Breakthrough and attracted additional investors, including The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, AgriZeroNZ, Rabo Ventures, Overview Capital, and The51 Food & AgTech Fund.

Other Methane-Reducing Measures to Tackle Cow Burps

In New England, Lactalis USA, a dairy operation that owns Stonyfield Organic, is piloting methane-reduction strategies at its farms in Maine and New Hampshire with the goal of slashing emissions by 30% by 2030. The most efficacious methane-reducer currently on the market is a kind of seaweed from the South Pacific and the Mediterranean that can be added to cow feed. The natural additive is proven to decrease methane emissions in cattle by up to 70%, but it is challenging to farm on an industrial scale.

With the help of Maine’s Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Stonyfield is exploring “whether there might be North Atlantic varieties of seaweed that can deliver similar benefits,” said Britt Lundgren, Lactalis USA’s senior director of sustainability and government affairs. Researchers are experimenting with local seaweed to see if fermenting it might help it better replicate the success of the Mediterranean variety.

Lundgren said the possibility of locally sourcing seaweed is exciting not only because of the impact on dairy cows, but also because it could create jobs to offset Maine’s struggling lobster industry.

“It’s too soon to put a number on it, but we think there is reason to believe that with one or the other of these seaweed additives, we’re going to be able to get to a substantial reduction in [methane] from our cows,” she said of the ongoing clinical trials. “We really love this solution because if it works, it’s good for our farms, it’s a local solution, and . . . it’s also something that can be done in partnership with rural coastal communities.”

Why is Methane the Focus of So Much Research?

Methane is responsible for about 30% of global warming since pre-industrial times. It affects air quality because it can lead to ground level (tropospheric) ozone, a dangerous pollutant. Methane leaks can also pose explosion and health hazards.

Methane, a main component of natural gas that is also naturally produced by cows, traps more than 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide within its first 20 years in the atmosphere. The molecule breaks down much faster, though, losing potency over time. Although methane occurs naturally in wetlands and other habitats, humans are responsible for roughly 60% of methane emissions, with the biggest sources coming from fossil fuels, agriculture, and the decomposition of landfill waste.

“Methane is one of the fastest levers we can hit, and we should hit it fast right now,” said Audrey Schulman, cofounder of HEET, a Boston-based climate nonprofit. “Because [with] climate change, the next 20 years are going to matter a lot — this is one way that we can slow down what’s happening . . . buying us a little more time.”

The Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter launched at COP28 is an industry initiative focused on climate action across the oil and gas sector. A total of 52 companies have joined and they aim to achieve net zero scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from their operations by 2050 at the latest, to end routine flaring by 2030, and to achieve near-zero upstream methane emissions by 2030.