Baby Kangaroo Feces Could Contribute to an Unusual Solution To Cow-produced Methane

A cow stomach simulator's ability to produce methane was suppressed by a microbial culture created from kangaroo poo.

The simulated stomach instead produced acetic acid after the researchers introduced the baby kangaroo culture and a well-known methane inhibitor.

Methane emissions decreased by kangaroo fecal bacteria

(Photo : Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The simulated stomach produced acetic acid rather than methane when scientists added the newborn kangaroo culture and a well-known methane inhibitor to it, as per ScienceDaily.

Acetic acid is advantageous to cows because it promotes muscular building, unlike methane, which they waste as farts. In the journal Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, the researchers published their findings.

Methane contributes to global warming in second place after carbon dioxide and has a heating effect on the atmosphere that is approximately 30 times greater.

Ruminant animals like cattle and goats are the biggest contributors to the agricultural industry's methane emissions, which are thought to account for more about half of the gas's release into the atmosphere. Additionally, 10% of the animal's energy is needed to produce methane.

The methane-producing bacteria quickly develop resistance to the chemicals, despite researchers' best efforts to stop it by altering cows' diets and giving them chemical inhibitors.

Additionally, vaccines have been developed, but the microbiome of a cow depends on its diet, and there are too many different strains of the bacteria that produce methane in the world. The procedures may potentially have a negative impact on the biological functions of the animals.

Rumens have incredible powers, according to Ahring, who is also a professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and in Biological System Engineering. Rumens have a variety of enzymes that can break down natural materials.

Her students located some kangaroos, collected samples, and discovered that only baby kangaroos underwent the unique acetic acid production process-not adult kangaroos.

The researchers employed a stable mixed culture created from the feces of the young kangaroo since they were unable to isolate specific bacteria that could be responsible for creating the acetic acid.

The methane-producing bacteria in their reactor were initially reduced with a specific chemical, but the acetic acid bacteria could replace the methane-producing germs for several months with such a similar growth rate.

Also read: Seagrasses Found to Continue Releasing Methane Even After Death

Methane is harmful to the atmosphere

About 32% of human-caused methane emissions come from livestock, primarily from manure and gastroenteric leaks. Ground-level ozone is a dangerous air pollutant and a greenhouse gas that is mostly formed by methane and is responsible for 1 million premature deaths annually, as per UN Environment Programme.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas as well. It has an 80 times more warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

Since the beginning of the industrial period, methane has contributed around 30% to global warming, and it is now increasing at a rate unheard of since records were kept in the 1980s.

According to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, atmospheric methane increased during the pandemic-related lockdowns of 2020 even while carbon dioxide emissions decreased.