Listen Now: Cow Masks

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Most of us have been wearing masks for the past year, and now cows are getting the habit. I’m Brian Banmiller on Business.

The agriculture giant Cargill Inc will start selling methane-absorbing masks for cows in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Here’s how it works. About ninety-five percent of methane is released by a cow as a burp. The company’s device placed above the animal’s mouth will suck up the burp and trap it in a chamber with a methane-absorbing filter. Once the filter is saturated, a chemical reaction turns the methane into CO2 which is then released. This is just one solution to the problem of methane being put into the atmosphere by cows. Another is food which helps them produce less of the gas. Cargill expects the cow masks to come on sale next year after more testing on animal behavior. First in Europe but if demand is high, they will expand. The companies haven’t set a price but an annual subscription fee may start around eighty dollars a cow. We had to wear masks to save lives, why not do it for the planet? Brian Banmiller, CBS News.

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.