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- Supplementing livestock feed with red seaweed can help reduce methane emissions that cause climate change.
- The seaweed helps block the process that produces methane in cattle without harming them.
- Incorporating seaweed as a supplement in feed also helps save costs for farmers.
- For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.
A startup in South Africa is testing how supplementing livestock feed with specific types of red seaweed can help reduce methane emissions that cause climate change.
Bahari Labs, which was set up in May 2023, is the brainchild of Jay Van Der Walt, who partnered with scientists from various disciplines to work on this solution that relies on seaweed. Bahari is a Swahili word meaning "from the sea".
Nearly a third (32%) of methane emissions come from livestock through manure or gastroenteric releases (as in farts and burps, to put it bluntly), according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
Methane is a greenhouse gas which causes global warming – and is considered 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Reducing one ton of methane is the equivalent of 28 tons of carbon dioxide, according to a greenhouse gas equivalence calculator developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Through urban population growth, and as people become more affluent, the demand for meat will grow, explained Van der Walt, who has worked on various sustainability projects throughout his corporate career and also co-founded a company that cultivates meat.
But even if people stopped eating meat, there would still be the issue of methane from natural fertilisers like manure, which needs to be dealt with. This pivoted Van der Walt and his team to consider how to make the traditional meat industry less impactful on the environment.
A 2020 study points out that emissions from livestock can be managed, using red seaweed. The seaweed is able to inhibit the process that generates methane without harming the animal. Incorporating 0.10% and 0.20% of red seaweed in the diet of Brahman and Angus cattle would decrease methane by as much as 40% and 98%, respectively.
"Red seaweed reduces methane by a massive amount without having a detrimental effect on cattle," noted Van der Walt.
The practice has been implemented in other parts of the world, and Bahari Labs plans to trial incorporating red seaweed as a supplement for animal feed in collaboration with regenerative (sustainable) cattle and sheep farmers.
Van der Walt explained the red seaweed is being grown in indoor tanks, at two aquariums in Cape Town, one in Sea Point and another at the University of Cape Town. It is still in its early stages, but when it is time to scale, Van der Walt said the seaweed will be grown outdoors, similar to spirulina farms. It will not be harvested from the sea so as not to interfere with/or damage local marine ecosystems.
"We will be growing the seaweed on land so that we can properly control temperature, water flow and light conditions…," he said. This would also allow Bahari Labs to incorporate sustainable practices, like relying on solar power.
The long-term plan is to partner with corporates or animal feed producers. This would also help these companies achieve their emissions reduction targets.
Besides reducing emissions, there are other benefits too. Livestock farmers in dry and arid regions would spend less on feed because animals eat less when on seaweed supplements. The cost savings would also help boost profitability for farmers.
"Grain farmers who have lost their income due to extreme drought could transition to seaweed farming," he added.
READ | Millions of cows face threat of heat stress. But cutting back on your beef may help
Van der Walt also envisions that Bahari Labs would offer another income stream for small-scale fishers. "Subsistence fishermen who may not be able to take their small boats out to fish from the shore during increasingly bad storm conditions will be able to supplement their income by working in the packaging and processing department of our eventual production facility," he said.
For now, Bahari Labs is raising funding as well as forging new partnerships for its research.
"The climate emergency is very real, and to prevent planetary warming beyond 1.5°C, we need to reduce emissions… we're on a mission to enable farmers, food corporations, and responsible consumers to help with this reduction whilst creating jobs in the process," said Van der Walt.
