The answer to livestock that burp methane may be seaweed

ANCIENT GREEKCSIRO writings describe livestock eating seaweed, as do Icelandic sagas. And, as the picture shows, sheep on North Ronaldsay, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, still graze on the stuff. But that is now seen as unusual. It may not be in the future, however, as research conducted in Australia and New Zealand suggests algavory of this sort may reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from stock animals.The research in question is being co-ordinated by , Australia’s main science agency. The project is looking into microbes that inhabit the stomachs of ruminants such as cattle and sheep. These bugs transform those animals’ fibrous fare into energy-rich molecules, some of which the host animal is able to absorb and utilise.