Reducing methane with seaweed

Words by: Chris McCullough

A Swedish start-up company is on a mission to reduce methane emissions from cows by feeding them a specially grown type of seaweed.

According to Volta Greentech, there are 1.5 billion cows on the planet that together burp out 5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Co-founded by Leo Wezelius, CMO and Angelo Demeter, head of R & D, the company is on a mission to reduce emissions by providing farmers with their seaweed supplement, called Volta Seafeed. The duo claims that when this is fed to cows at a daily dose of 100g/head, methane emissions are reduced by up to 80%. The feed is based on a mix of red seaweeds and includes natural bioactive compounds that block one of the enzymes that microbial methanogens in the rumen use to produce methane.

This eliminates the majority of the methane gas the cows burp out and unlocks more energy in the form of hydrogen and carbon that previously was used to produce the unwanted byproduct methane.

Volta Factory 01 will be up and running by early 2022, aiming to grow enough seaweed under artificial light to feed 12,500 cows with Volta Seafeed daily.

The building will be powered by 100% clean electricity and industrial waste heat. Just like any land plant, seaweed grows through photosynthesis, so in addition to reducing methane emissions, the seaweed produced in Volta Factory 01 will be able to absorb 1000 tonnes of CO2 per year.