Pioneering work with the world’s first ruminant methane mitigation projects
Over the course of the past 16 years Richard Bowman of RuMeth International has been involved in nearly every major ruminant methane mitigation project that has taken place in developing countries. The most notable efforts to date are the two large scale projects that he designed and implemented. The first of these, the India Dairy Project, was truly revolutionary in its development of ruminant methane efficiency methodologies and technologies. The second, the Uganda Cattle Feeding Project, presently underway in Uganda, built on lessons learned in India and is the first fully commercial ruminant methane mitigation project in a developing country.
India Dairy Project
The world’s first ruminant methane mitigation project funded for the purpose of carbon offset crediting was implemented in Gujarat, India. Richard Bowman and his team from EnterpriseWorks Worldwide (formerly Appropriate Technology International or ATI) initiated pilot project activities with financial support from AES Corporation, a large carbon emitter in the U.S. and TransAlta Utilities of Canada.
The core technological focus of the project was the introduction of an improved feed supplement. Local Indian development agencies had been attempting to produce a supplement to provide for improved milk productivity but had been stymied in their efforts. The team led by Mr. Bowman, (the Global Livestock Producer’s Program or GLPP) began working with the Indian organizations to assist in formulation and processing improvement, development of an extensive market outreach program, and the scientific quantification of the methane reductions brought about by supplement usage.
Early on, Mr. Bowman’s team was successful in transferring technology for improving the formulation and manufacture of the original Indian supplement. However, problems persisted with acceptance and usage by livestock producers. The form that the supplement came in was not functional within the prevalent production systems. To overcome the challenges presented, Mr. Bowman and his team developed a completely different supplemental feed, that augmented the methane reducing and productivity enhancing characteristics of the original product. This supplement could also be easily integrated into the local production systems. The product was first created experimentally by the local project manager and then modified through field analysis.
After improving the basic formulation, Richard Bowman custom designed processing equipment that could produce the reformulated product on a commercial basis. With this fundamental modification to the product, sales efforts soon began to be successful with more than 7,000 head of cattle put on feed.
At the same time, Mr. Bowman’s team was also undertaking field trials to test the product’s effectiveness for improving dairy production and reducing methane emissions. They undertook the first large scale survey of a production system for the purpose of assessing methane reductions. All in all, the project was a tremendous learning experience for the parties involved. Unfortunately, the Government of India was very suspicious of the concept of carbon offset projects at that time (late 1990s) and refused to permit any credits originating with the project to be transferred out of the country.
Uganda Cattle Feed Project
RuMeth International., NutriMix Feeds Ltd. and TransAlta Corporation are presently implementing a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project that when expanded, will annually create in excess of 300,000 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). The project is located in the East African country of Uganda. The technical focus of the project is the reduction of ruminant methane through the introduction of an improved supplemental feeding technology. RuMeth is the project developer and technical advisor to the project. NutriMix is the host country implementing organization and owner of the feed processing facility. TransAlta Corporation is the primary investor in the establishment of the project and is actively participating in project activities.
The core technological focus of this project is the introduction of a ruminant feed supplement. The use of this supplement naturally promotes more efficient digestion thereby decreasing ruminant methane emissions, while simultaneously increasing animal productivity. This type of supplementation is common in the developed world, however, in developing countries, it has not had nearly as widespread adoption. There are multiple reasons for this, but the primary factor is the level of investment and technology required to produce a high quality product.
RuMeth has overcome this difficulty by developing an adapted form of the supplement. This form is ideally suited to developing country conditions as it can be produced under fairly simple circumstances with locally available materials. The processing technology, procedures, formulations and ingredient balance required to produce the product are the proprietary knowledge of RuMeth. NutriMix utilizes the product under a licensing agreement with the company.
From 2009 to 2015, the project is expected to yield an anticipated CER production of 1,500,000 tonnes CO2e. The project will continue to produce at least 300,000 tonnes CO2e annually after 2015, though it is quite likely that there will be increases to annual production beyond that date.
RuMeth International, NutriMix, and TransAlta have all invested in the project and will continue to do so in the future. At present, an additional investor is sought to assist with expansion efforts. For more information on this project please contact RuMeth International.