Green Daily

When it comes to global warming, carbon dioxide is the big man on campus. Admittedly, it is only one of many greenhouse gases, but it garners the majority of the green press, and an extraordinary amount of attention is paid to finding ways to reduce it. Surprisingly, carbon dioxide is only responsible for 9-26% of the greenhouse effect on the planet. The biggest offender is water vapor, which causes a massive 36-70% of the greenhouse effect.

The third biggest greenhouse gas, methane, is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide; even though methane emissions are far below those of carbon dioxide, it still accounts for an impressive 4-9% of global warming.

Argentina is a major methane producer; although the country produces a fair bit of carbon dioxide, methane counts for a large part of their greenhouse gas emissions. Some of this comes from landfills, coal mines, and other sources, but more than 30% of the country's greenhouse gases are produced by the 55 million cows that comprise Argentina's impressive beef industry. Each of these cows produces between 200 and 300 gallons of gas per day, most of it in the form of farts.

While Argentina can't afford to dismantle its impressive beef industry, it is exploring ways to reduce the noxious emissions of its cows. One method is a natural diet of alfalfa and clover, which a researcher has noted would cut emissions by 25%. In the meantime, the country has outfitted many of its bovines with plastic tanks that enable it to collect and analyze the cows' emissions. If the whole reduction program fails, maybe Argentina could pursue a new form of renewable energy: cow-powered cars!