Carbon dioxide is the most significant contributor to human-induced climate change but methane is a close second, according to the ​​UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). While it lasts in the atmosphere for less time than carbon dioxide, methane is about 28 times more potent at trapping heat. Cutting methane emissions can therefore be one of the quickest and most effective ways to limit greenhouse gases in the short term. Some 40 per cent of the world’s annual methane emissions come from agriculture, the bulk of which is from livestock. Cows are by far the biggest culprits, emitting the gas largely through their burps — rather than flatulence, as commonly thought. Administering methane inhibitors to cows can help clean up bovine burps and thereby reduce emissions — without the need to make drastic cuts to livestock production and beef consumption. Cows and other ruminants produce methane during digestion, in a process known as enteric fermentation. Inhibitors, which disrupt methane production in the gut, are now proving a promising technology for addressing the climate impact.

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