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Scientists claim to have successfully trained cows to pee in the toilet. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The New Zealand and German team of researchers admit that the experiment started as a joke, but found that managing bovine urine could have a long-term impact on the climate.
“If we could capture 10 or 20 percent of the urine, that would be enough to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate runoff,” says Douglas Elliffe of the University of Auckland.
According to Elliffe, the nitrogen in cow urine breaks down over time into two pollutants: nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, and nitrate, which builds up in the soil and then s ‘seeps into rivers and streams.
Scientists carried out experiments on sixteen calves. They used food to reward animals when they went to a pen to urinate. The study, published this week in the journal Current Biology, proves that a cow can learn to pee on the toilet, Elliffe said.
The challenge now is to get animals to do this on a large scale and to train herds to use the toilet, including in environments like New Zealand, where animals spend more time outdoors than in. stables.
“If we could capture 10 or 20 percent of the urine, that would be enough to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate runoff,” says Douglas Elliffe of the University of Auckland. According to Elliffe, the nitrogen in cow urine breaks down over time into two pollutants: nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, and nitrate, which builds up in the soil and then s ‘seeps into rivers and streams. Scientists carried out experiments on sixteen calves. They used food to reward animals when they went to a pen to urinate. The study, published this week in the journal Current Biology, proves that a cow can learn to pee on the toilet, Elliffe said. The challenge now is to get animals to do this on a large scale and to train herds to use the toilet, including in environments like New Zealand, where animals spend more time outdoors than in. stables.
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