This method of capturing methane could drastically cut global pollution.
Pork is popular. It's "the most widely eaten meat in the world," according to the Department of Agriculture. But pork's popularity comes at a price: hundreds of millions of pounds of heat-trapping gas pollution each year.
Researchers at DTU Sustain, a department of the Technical University of Denmark, have been testing a way to reduce the emissions from pig manure and help the meat industry become more sustainable.
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Saving money 💰 The researchers are experimenting with a pump system that expels gases underneath a compost layer containing bacteria that break down methane: a biofilter.
The biofilter is "established by excavating an area at a depth of about half a meter, which is filled with stones that act as gas distribution layers. An 80-cm thick layer of compost is placed on top of the stones," the school explained via Phys.org.
Feeding, farming, and transportation of livestock emits an unsustainable amount of gases. The meat and dairy industry is responsible for nearly 15% of global polluting gases.
Some livestock products are bigger offenders than others — beef and lamb produce more methane than pork and poultry, for example. Fruits, nuts, and veggies produce significantly less. "Emissions from plant-based foods are 10 to 50 times smaller than those from animal products," per CarbonBrief.
Improving technology is just one way to reduce meat and dairy industry pollution — the other is to change your diet. Plant-based meat alternatives are becoming increasingly popular. One in five Burger King Whoppers are plant-based. Some studies report it's even healthier for you.
"The filter was able to break down 92% of the methane that was passed through it in the first year," Charlotte Scheutz, a professor at DTU, said. "Our hopes were that it would break down 80%, so the biofilter's efficiency far exceeded our expectations."
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