Is a methane vaccine New Zealand’s climate silver bullet?
The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice says a methane vaccine could be available by 2035. Nikki Macdonald investigates the quest to achieve one of farming’s great hopes, and asks whether it’s even necessary.
Imagine investing 15 years of your life in something you know might never work. But knowing too that if it does, you could help change the world. And all from Palmerston North.
AgResearch scientists Peter Janssen and Neil Wedlock are doing just that, in the quest to design a vaccine that could cut the amount of potent climate-warming methane burped up by sheep and cows.
It’s one of many methane-reducing possibilities being chased around the world, from selective breeding to daffodil extract to catalytic converters hung around cows’ necks.
But it’s a particularly appealing option for New Zealand, because while feedlot farmers can add inhibitors to grain, that’s tricky for cows and sheep munching on grass.
But as the race to beat Covid showed, vaccines are tough (and expensive) to crack.
