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
Yesterday
Preserving Peru’s food heritage
<p>Peru is famous for its diverse and innovative cuisine - but how is it making sure its venerable food heritage is preserved for decades to come? We meet the indigenous Quechua people who are cultivating more than 1300 species of potato, working with scientists to safeguard seed ... Show More
23m 23s
Nov 18
How literacy can change a life
<p>Learning to read empowers people, reduces poverty and increases their job chances. Yet more than 700 miliion adults are illiterate, the majority of them women. We look at innovations to help adults learn how to read from flatpack classrooms in flood-prone regions of Bangladesh ... Show More
23m 31s
Nov 11
Saving seabirds and squirrels
How do you save threatened species? This week we look at two novel solutions. In the UK, scientists are developing a unique contraceptive that will be fed in a nutty spread to grey squirrels, an invasive species that threatens the native red squirrel. And how scientists are movin ... Show More
23m 26s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2018
What Is “Clean Meat”? Paul Shapiro On The Future of Food
Unbeknownst to most, animal agriculture is the number one culprit when it comes to almost every single man-made environmental ill on the planet. Untenable amounts of land, water and feed are required to raise the number of animals necessary to meet demand. Creating more greenhous ... Show More
2h 5m
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
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
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
42m 50s
Oct 2021
Why Wild-Caught Fish Isn't Necessarily Better, The Truth About Farmed Fish, How To Get Guilt-Free, Gourmet Seafood, Delicious DIY Sushi & Sashimi Recipes & Much More!
<p>BenGreenfieldFitness.com/seatopiapodcast</p> <p>A few times in the past month, I've mentioned that I've been destroying sushi restaurants for myself, forever.</p> <p><em>OK, maybe a bit of an overexaggeration, but, basically, me and my family have been making my own amazing, m ... Show More
1h 11m
Mar 2022
What seaweed and cow burps have to do with climate action | Ermias Kebreab
<p>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 re ... Show More
9m 11s
Jul 2022
Plant based promises, rise of the plant based burger
In Plant Based Promises, foodie, researcher and broadcaster Giles Yeo looks at the science behind plant based diets and the increasing number of plant based products appearing in supermarkets and restaurants. The market for plant based products could be worth $162 billion in the ... Show More
27m 33s
Oct 2023
Debate: We Should All Go Vegan, Part 2
This is the second instalment of our two-part debate, with George Monbiot, Guardian columnist, environmental campaigner and author of Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet, arguing for the motion We Should All Go Vegan. Patrick Holden, Founder and chief execut ... Show More
26m 36s