PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Overview

The cattle industry provides us with countless goods we eat and utilize today. From hamburgers and steak to dairy products to even some materials used to insulate your home, all these items are the by-products of cows from the cattle industry. However, in exchange for these commodities, the price we pay is the emission of methane gas into our atmosphere. In order to restrict this methanogenesis process occurring in the rumen, we are simultaneously pursuing the biosynthesis of bromoform in the rumen as well as the facilitation of nitrite reduction to ammonia.

Motivation

Methane production in the rumen of cattle is a serious issue, not only for our environment and our carbon footprint but also for the efficiency of the cattle industry at large. Our project is a double edged sword by attempting to solve both problems' common root cause.

In the 21st century, one of the the most pressing issues we all face is climate change. Earth’s average temperature is increasing at a dangerously fast rate and is affecting our planet in detrimental ways; glaciers are shrinking, heat waves are becoming more intense, and ecosystems are being destroyed. As the Greenhouse Effect shows, certain greenhouse gases are trapping the sun’s radiation and heat, causing climate change. The most widely recognized greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide as it is the greatest contributor to global warming. Yet there is another gas which is 25 times more potent at trapping the sun’s radiation than carbon dioxide, methane. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a quarter of methane emissions is created by livestock alone, mainly cattle.

In our local state of Nebraska, the beef industry dominates above all others. There are over 6 million cows in Nebraska that account for 6.89% of all cattle in the US. This is the second largest number of cattle is one state behind Texas. (Cows per state ranking)Each cow releases 70 kg to 120 kg of methane annually, and coupled with the sheer magnitude of the cattle industry not only in Nebraska but across the globe, this has become a problem of increasing importance. If we are able to find a way to lessen the amount of methane produced by cattle, we as Nebraskans can help reduce the environmental footprint of our state.

Moving away from only the environmental aspect, another issue arises through the methanogenesis process as well. Methane production through enteric fermentation is a waste of feed energy for the animal. An average of 6.5% of the gross energy provided by a cow’s food source is lost here. By curbing methanogenesis, we may be able to help the cows utilize this energy themselves and in turn, benefit the cattle industry and the consumers as well. If we are able to increase the efficiency by even a mere 6%, about $20 per head of cattle could be saved. This could help drive down costs for local farmers to buy feed, and the price of beef could drop as a result.

The Problem

Methane is generated in the rumen of a cattle during its digestive process. The rumen is the first of four compartments of the stomach and functions to enzymatically decompose plant carbohydrates during enteric fermentation. When the cow consumes food sources such as grass, its unique ruminant microbiome allows it to digest the high cellulose content unlike the monogastric digestive system of other animals and humans. Three volatile fatty acids (VFA), acetate, butyrate, and propionate, are produced along with hydrogen and carbon dioxide. While the VFA’s follow one pathway and become energy for the cow and the microbiome living inside of it, the hydrogen and carbon dioxide are instead used as substrates for the methanogenesis process. In this process, methanogens, microorganisms of the domain Archaea and phylum Euryarchaeota, convert the two gases, hydrogen and carbon dioxide, into methane. At the end, most of the methane is expelled from the rumen when the cow belches the gas into the air.

What should this page contain?

• A clear and concise description of your project.
• A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.
• References and sources to document your research.
• Use illustrations and other visual resources to explain your project.

Advice on writing your Project Description

We encourage you to put up a lot of information and content on your wiki, but we also encourage you to include summaries as much as possible. If you think of the sections in your project description as the sections in a publication, you should try to be consist, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements.

Judges like to read your wiki and know exactly what you have achieved. This is how you should think about these sections; from the point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year.