Kangaroo poo set to help reduce emissions in cattle around the world.
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00:00 Well, Robin, there is no denying, of course, our reliance on science and the amount of
00:05 passion that goes into it.
00:07 And of course, science turns up some very interesting, you know, prospects as well for
00:13 us.
00:14 This next question to you is one of the more unexpected questions I've possibly ever asked.
00:19 Kangaroo poo could possibly be a way to drive down methane emissions if transplanted into
00:26 cows.
00:27 How curious.
00:28 How would this work?
00:30 I could give you a list of the most astonishing potential breakthroughs.
00:36 Now, this is work at Washington State University in America.
00:39 I don't know where they get their roo poo, but apparently it could be from the zoo or
00:44 it's from babies, baby roos.
00:46 Now, at the moment, we've got a problem with climate change and methane is 30 to 40 times
00:55 as powerful a greenhouse gas as CO2.
00:59 And there's a real problem trying to get it down.
01:02 Now, half of that methane comes from the cattle, dairy cattle, beef cattle, you name it, around
01:08 the world.
01:09 And they have a particular genetic propensity to encourage bacteria in their rumen as they
01:16 digest the grass to produce methane.
01:19 Now, there's already an experiment using seaweed in Tasmania and it's going quite well.
01:24 But this new research just published is coming from Birgitte Ahring, who is a professor at
01:30 State University, and she has taken kangaroo poo, which has got bacteria which produce
01:36 acetic acid instead of methane.
01:40 And they get rid of the acetic acid in the usual way.
01:43 End of problem, you'd think.
01:44 How they get sufficient roo poo into the cattle is a different question.
01:49 However, once you've got the genetic link, you can have that adjusted in terms of genetic
01:57 engineering of bacteria, but also the essential ingredient you can administer to the cattle,
02:04 rather like they're doing with seaweed in Tasmania at the moment.
02:07 So there is a wonderful way.
02:10 What made them think of getting roo poo is a question that I'd love to ask them, and
02:15 I hope, in fact, to do so.
02:18 But the clue is that when you look at the kangaroos, they do not produce the methane,
02:24 anything like on the level of cattle.
02:27 And so they probably thought, well, what's going on inside their guts?
02:30 And let's see whether what they've got could be useful for our dairy cattle or beef.
02:35 Australia's contribution to the world takes a new turn.
02:38 They're always fascinating talking science with you.
02:41 Robin Williams, our science show host, thank you so much.
02:46 Thank you, Miriam.
02:46 Thank you.
02:47 Thank you.
02:47 Thank you.
02:48 Thank you.
02:48 Thank you.