A British agtech startup has developed a “smart” cattle nose-ring which converts exhaled methane to carbon dioxide, thereby reducing harmful bovine methane gas emissions. Born from London’s Royal Academy Arts Innovation Center, the Zero-Emission Livestock Project (ZELP) expects the device to convert “up to 80% of the cow’s exhaled methane”. Upon detecting methane, the ring activates a “micro-oxidation” chamber which converts methane into carbon dioxide and water. Additionally, through monitoring of unit-specific methane output, the device also provides information regarding digestion rates and chemical flows for the animal. Each device also comes with geolocation information and is connected to a cloud database, which is regularly populated with data.
