logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2017
23m 11s

How To Make Sushi From Methane Gas

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Humanity’s hunger for meat is not good for the planet. Every cow, pig and fish that farmers rear has an environmental cost – particularly in the land and water resources it takes to grow the food the animals eat. But one entrepreneur is developing a solution – create animal feed from methane gas. Using methane-eating bacteria, they have developed animal feed that uses a fraction of the land and water of plant-based animal feed. Reporter: Charlotte Pritchard Presenter: Sahar Zand Series Producer: Tom Colls

Image: Sushi being picked up with chopsticks / Credit: 4kodiak / Getty Images

Up next
Sep 8
Getting the homeless homed
We visit two projects exploring practical responses to homelessness and housing insecurity. Presenter Myra Anubi travels to Edinburgh to see the work of Social Bite, a charity creating small communities of prefabricated homes on unused land, offering people a stable place to live ... Show More
23m 39s
Sep 1
Saving mothers and babies
In 2017, Spanish engineer Pablo Bergasa began an unusual hobby: to design a new incubator for use in African hospitals. Eight years on, he has sent 200 of his machines around the world, and he estimates they have saved the lives of 5,000 babies. Pablo’s incubator costs just a sma ... Show More
23m 16s
Aug 25
How to have better sex
Sex is one of the few things in life that is available to everyone and is free. But achieving enjoyable sex is not possible for many. Some people are held back by fear, ignorance or culture - others don’t know or understand their rights around sex. For years public health campaig ... Show More
23m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
How Impossible Meats Might Save the Earth
People talk about greenhouse-gas emissions from cars, planes, and factories, but one source out-pollutes them all: Cows. Raising meat animals like cows generates more methane than the entire fossil-fuel industry. So Pat Brown left his job as a Stanford biochemistry professor to d ... Show More
40m 50s
Aug 2024
Is cultivated meat the future of food? | Uma Valeti
The way we raise animals is destructive to humans, animals and the environment, says cardiologist and entrepreneur Uma Valeti. He presents a solution that doesn't require you to give up your favorite protein-packed meals: cultivated meat, grown directly from animal cells. Reporte ... Show More
15m 3s
Jan 2024
Solving the cow burp problem
Agriculture in the U.S. produces more methane than the American oil and gas industry, and the biggest share of that agricultural methane is from enteric fermentation – essentially cow burps. Cows and other ruminant animals release methane because of the way they digest food. And ... Show More
42m 1s
Jun 2024
Is cultivated meat the future of food? | Uma Valeti
The way we raise animals is destructive to humans, animals and the environment, says cardiologist and entrepreneur Uma Valeti. He presents a solution that doesn't require you to give up your favorite protein-packed meals: cultivated meat, grown directly from animal cells. Reporte ... Show More
14m 41s
Mar 2024
Is alternative meat the recipe for a healthier planet? | Tao Zhang
A Chinese saying goes, "There's no pleasure in eating without meat." And the data backs that up: every year, China consumes 26 percent of the world's meat and 45 percent of its seafood — numbers that could grow alongside rising incomes. Impact investor Tao Zhang shows why getting ... Show More
12m 47s
Mar 2022
What seaweed and cow burps have to do with climate action | Ermias Kebreab
Scientists have long known that cows are a huge source of the greenhouse gas methane, contributing up to four percent of emissions globally. But could there be a way to make cattle less -- ahem -- gassy? Animal scientist Ermias Kebreab talks through an ingenious solution to reduc ... Show More
9m 11s
Apr 2020
144: Cattle, Consumer Behavior & Environmental Myths – Dr. Jennie Hodgen & Dr. Jayson Lusk
<p>There seems to be increasing criticism and negative publicity around meat production despite the fact that we have much fewer cattle in the U.S. today than in the past, and therefore the carbon footprint is smaller than before. With increasing concerns about climate change and ... Show More
49m 18s
Oct 2022
Space: The final food frontier
Is space the final frontier for meat grown from animal stem cells?Elizabeth Hotson asks whether growing steaks under micro gravity conditions could help in the quest for food security and whether, back on earth, consumers could be persuaded to stomach meat reared in labs.We hear ... Show More
18m 49s
Oct 2020
Lab-Grown Meat: We Grill It
Silicon Valley seems to be constantly pumping out "solutions" to fix our broken food system. The latest and greatest: cell-cultured meat — meat that's grown in vats, without needing to kill animals. Companies say their new techy meat will be safe and better for the planet than wh ... Show More
32m 38s
Nov 2023
Meet methane, the invisible climate villain | Marcelo Mena
A landfill on fire doesn't only emit a horrid stench — it has devastating consequences for the environment, too. The culprit is methane, an often underestimated greenhouse gas produced in large part by food systems, organic waste and yes, cow burps. Biochemical engineer Marcelo M ... Show More
9m 32s