Mark Aspin: The mitigation technologies that could 'make a big hole' in NZ livestock methane emissions

<p>If things go well in four key areas where work is underway to tackle methane emissions from farm animals they could "make a big hole" in New Zealand's agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, according to Mark Aspin, consortium manager at the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Consortium.</p><p>The Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Consortium is a public-private partnership that has been working for 20 years to reduce agriculture greenhouse gas emissions. Speaking in interest.co.nz's <a href="https://www.interest.co.nz/of-interest-podcasts" target="_blank"><i><strong>Of Interest podcast</strong></i></a><i><strong>, </strong></i>Aspin discusses the lessons and progress along the way.</p><p>With the agriculture sector contributing half NZ's emissions, according to the Ministry for the Environment's greenhouse gas inventory, and methane 44% largely due to the digestive process of ruminant animals such as cows and sheep, Aspin talks in detail about the four key methane mitigation tools being worked on.</p><p>These are methane inhibitors, genetic selection to breed low-emission cows and sheep, low-emission feed and forage, and a vaccine that could stimulate the animal's immune system to generate antibodies in saliva that target proteins on methane-producing microbes, or methanogens, in the rumen area of the stomach restricting their growth and ability to produce methane.</p><p>The Government has a target of reducing biogenic methane emissions from 2017 levels by between 24% and 47% by 2050. Aspin says the four key areas of work have the potential to make a big dent in NZ agriculture's methane emissions.</p><p>"In a perfect world yes, we could probably make a big hole in the agricultural emissions if we could get them all to work," says Aspin.</p><p>He acknowledges that the vaccine is "proving very tough," but continues to believe it could work.</p><p>In the podcast he also talks about the challenges of being a livestock grazing nation, intellectual property related to this technology, regulatory requirements, what's going on overseas, NZ