Startup to Build Seaweed Plant to Fight Methane-Belching Cows

(Bloomberg) -- Swedish startup Volta Greentech is gearing up to build a full-scale factory to produce seaweed supplements to reduce climate-warming emissions from cattle. 

Backed by Northvolt AB founder Peter Carlsson, Volta Greentech is forging ahead after a successful pilot at a Swedish beef farm that showed adding seaweed to a cow’s diet cuts average methane emissions burped out by the animals by more than 80%. Based on the pilot, the supplement is planned to be grown sustainably and manufactured with renewable energy. 

The plant, dubbed Volta Factory 2, will have a capacity of 50 tons a year to feed between 3000 to 5000 animals. The company will raise further funds this year for the plant as well as research and development.

“That is just the first step,” according to Volta Greentech co-founder Fredrik Akerman, pointing to global commitments to significantly cut methane emissions. “Many countries don’t have a national plan -- in Sweden for example, the majority of methane emissions stem from cattle.”

The company’s supplement is based on the red seaweed Asparagopsis Taxiformis that contains high amounts of bioactive compounds, which block one of the enzymes needed by the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen to naturally prevent its formation. 

The 1.5 billion cows globally produce about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which according to Volta Greentech’s estimates is twice the amount of the world’s airplanes.

“We have now shown that our seaweed has the potential to reduce a large part of those emissions,” Akerman, 25, said in an interview.

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