Photosynthesis and the Fight Against Methane Emissions

There is a lot to Atmospheric Methane that’s simply not being discussed openly and I’m not sure why. This is part 4 of a series we've written about the positive aspects of Grassfed Beef and the Environment.  (Start With Part One) There are two sources of Atmospheric Methane.  Biogenic Methane and Fossil Methane. So this is really simple.   Biogenic Methane is created by biologic means.  It comes from Carbon that is already in the atmosphere…basically through fermentation and decay.  In the case of Grass fed Beef, it starts with simple photosynthesis.  Refresher Course: We all learned this in 3rd or 4th grade.  Plants take in Sunlight, Water and Carbon Dioxide (Co2).   They Give us Oxygen and Store Water in the ground where they slowly release it through Transpiration. Plants also produce carbohydrates So what about the  Co2?   Three things can happen to CO2 pulled from the air via photosynthesis:

1. It can be stored in the ground
2. It can be stored in the living plant
3. It can be released back into the atmosphere due to non-microbial decay (brittleness).  

When cattle eat grass, they are taking in some of that pre-existing Co2 and gaining their nutrients from the carbohydrates which they efficiently turn into food for us.  The byproducts are urine and manure to fertilize our pastures and they emit Biogenic Methane. Fossil Methane as the name implies comes from Carbon that's currently not in the atmosphere,  It’s introduced into the atmosphere by extracting and burning fossil fuels. The point is although biogenic and fossil methane are chemically the same,  biogenic is basically recycling.  Methane is a short-lived gas. The Methane Cycle is about 8-9 years at which point via oxidation it converts to H2O and CO2.  CO2 can last for centuries in the atmosphere unless it’s sequestered… by plants. So we saw in my previous post that the Global Cattle Population is flat.  There has been no real change in the Global Cattle population since 2020. So it’s reasonably safe to conclude that Grass fed beef is more of a solution than a problem. To keep our regenerative Grassfed Beef farm growing we buy calves from other like minded farmers.  This encourages more and more conventional farmers of begin down the regenerative path.  To do this we ask your help.  In addition to purchasing our meat, you can also help by contributing to our Calf Rescue Efforts.. [ecwid_product id="514845003" display="picture title price options addtobag" version="2" show_border="1" show_price_on_button="1" center_align="1"]