#41 CH4 Global
Eliminating livestock methane emissions with seaweed
Read time: 5 minutes
Hi, I’m Javi Gascón.
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Today we’ll distill a company that’s revolutionizing livestock feed with a seaweed supplement that cuts methane emissions by 90%: CH4 Global 🇺🇸
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What Problem Does CH4 Global Tackle❓
CH4 Global tackles the problem of methane emissions, particularly those originating from livestock in the agriculture sector.
And why is this so relevant?
1. Methane vs CO2: After CO2, methane (CH4) is the second most abundant man-emitted greenhouse gas. According to NASA: “Methane is estimated to be 80 times more effective than CO2, ton for ton, at trapping heat in the atmosphere in the 20 years after release.”
2. Agriculture: It’s the main contributor to methane emissions. A part is due to microbial activity in wetlands (such as rice fields) and the rest comes from ruminants. Cows, sheep, goats and other ruminants produce methane due to their unique digestion process.
3. Environmental Impact: Because it’s powerful and short-lived compared to CO2, large reductions would have a rapid and significant effect on climate change. Reducing methane emissions can prevent up to 0.3°C of global warming by 2045.
The surest, fastest route to bend the climate curve is to radically reduce methane emissions in the next 10 years.
Product / Service 📦
CH4 Global’s primary product is the “Methane Tamer”, a seaweed-based cattle feed supplement derived from Asparagopsis seaweed. This supplement is designed to reduce enteric (from the digestive process) methane emissions from cattle by up to 90%.
Why is Methane Tamer so awesome?
Environmental Impact: If adopted for just 10% of global cattle, the climate benefit would be equivalent to eliminating 50-100 million fossil-fueled cars.
Positive ROI for farmers: This is due to 3 reasons.
They can charge higher prices for their low-methane beef products.
The product improves feed efficiency as the energy typically lost through methane production is redirected to animal growth, resulting in potential feed cost savings.
They can generate additional revenue through potential carbon credits from their methane reduction efforts.
Global Availability: It is being scaled for global markets to meet the growing demand for low-carbon livestock products. Right now, the only commercially available product is the “Methane Tamer Beef Feedlot”. They are developing targeted Methane Tamer formulations for sheep, goats, grazing dairy cows, etc.
Cost-Effective: CH4 Global’s production system achieves significantly lower production costs compared to competitors (4-10 times lower). This way they can have higher margins and also offer lower prices to farmers.
They basically created a sustainable, effective, and economically viable way to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
Market 🌐
There are approximately 1.5 billion cattle worldwide, and this number is increasing to meet demand for beef and dairy products. The global methane market was valued at $106.65 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $167.09 billion by 2028. This growth is driven by increasing demand for reducing methane emissions in agriculture and other sectors (both from consumers and legislators).
Knowing this and the fact that food supplements can make feeding more efficient and allow farmers to sell carbon credits, several companies are investing in creating sustainable food supplements.
Other Key Players
Even though CH4 global is the most established player in the market of methane-reducing food supplements for cows, several other companies have come up recently.
Seaweed-Based Solutions: Both Symbrosia and Blue Ocean Barns are climate tech startups based in Hawaii that develop seaweed-based feed additives for livestock.
Alternative Technologies: Rumin8, Number8Bio and Mootral are all working on different technologies to reduce methane emissions from ruminants via feed additives, water supplements, and slow-release capsules.
Founding Story 🦄
CH4 Global was founded in 2018 by Steve Meller, PhD, who is the CEO and President, along with co-founders including Guy Royal and Toko Kapea. Steve had a successful career at Procter & Gamble and in academia before retiring in 2012. He then became Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur focused on founding companies in the healthcare, tech, and sustainability sectors.
The company's journey began when Meller and his business associates approached FutureFeed, an Australian company holding intellectual property for reducing methane emissions from cows using Asparagopsis seaweed. In 2019, they acquired the first license from FutureFeed to commercialize this technology.
In 2020, CH4 Global raised US$3 million in seed funding and by 2021 they had progressed beyond proof of concept and began scaling toward full commercialization of the “Methane Tamer”.
They have now raised over US$47 million, and created partnerships with massive companies.
Top Impact Stats 📈
Their Methane Tamer™ product reduces enteric methane emissions from cattle by up to 90% and the same will apply to their new formulations for other animals.
The partnership with Lotte International in South Korea will provide supplement for up to 4 million cattle, potentially reducing emissions by 7-10 million metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent annually!
Their process uses the entire seaweed with no extraction needed, maximizing resource efficiency and requiring a lower dose for effective methane reduction.
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