Plant-based bubble bursts
OPINION: Talking about plant-based food: “Chicken-free chicken” start-up Sunfed has had its valuation slashed to zero by major investor Blackbird Ventures, and its products are no longer available in supermarkets.
While some start-ups try to tackle the problem with plant-based burgers designed to convert carnivores, or seaweed supplements that make cows less gassy, one company is trying to capture emissions directly with a mask-like device that sits above a cow’s nose.
“Because of our background in livestock farming, we knew that cattle exhale most of the methane through their mouth and nostrils, so the obvious approach was to work on a device that would capture these emissions at the source,” says Francisco Norris, CEO of Zelp, the UK-based start-up.
A sensor on the device detects methane as the cow or bull breathes, and when levels of the gas pass a certain threshold, the technology draws the methane into the mask to a mechanism that oxidizes the gas, turning it into lesspotent CO2 and water vapor.
