Researcher puts cows in a bubble to measure emissions

[Kadie]

Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2005


Researcher puts cows in a bubble to measure emissions

KATHLEEN HENNESSEY

Associated Press


DAVIS, Calif. - In a white, tent-like "bio-bubble" on a farm near Davis, eight pregnant Holsteins are eating, chewing and pooping - for science.
"The ladies," as they're called by University of California, researcher Frank Mitloehner, are doing their part to answer a question plaguing one of California's largest agricultural industries: How much gas does a cow emit?

The findings will be used to write the state's first air quality regulations for dairies and could affect regulations nationwide.

But before he explains how it works, Mitloehner wants one thing to be clear.

"We're not talking about flatulence," he says.

He emphasizes the point because his research has been dismissed as "fart science," a label he says doesn't do justice to the seriousness of his work.

snip...
Currently, regulators assume that a cow produces 12.8 pounds of VOCs a year. At that rate, 700 cows churn out as many smog-making compounds as 60,000 cars and dairies are the number one producer of VOCs in the San Joaquin Valley.


more...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12226712.htm


another link...

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/12226712.htm

[kineneb]

1. good ole UCD

glad someone is actually investigating the "other" product of the beef industry.