European Union Commissioner has dismissed concern that consideration was being given to forcing farmers to put masks on cattle to reduce greenhouse gases
Cattle are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and most of that is methane, one of the most potent contributors to global warming.
So, it was understandable that when questions were asked by a Member of the European Parliament about the bizarre prospect of cattle being forced to wear masks to help reduce emissions, there would be some interest.
The masks do exist but the EU will not be introducing any legislation said the Commissioner for Agriculture, though he admitted there had been some €50,000 funding put into an investigation. The innovative wearable devices to capture methane belched by cows, which convert this in real time into carbon dioxide.
Today (February 6) the EU’s agriculture commissioner reassured a that concerned MEP and media outlets that the EU executive is not considering mandatory methane reduction masks for cattle.
Late last year Austrian media outlet Exxpress reported that installing such belch masks on cattle formed part of the commission’s Green Deal and that prompted MEP Annika Bruna, from France, to ask the EU executive if it did plan to make such devices mandatory for European livestock farmers.
European authorities are “not planning to impose masks on cows”, said European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
While Wojciechowski accepted the EC had given funding to the project, which has also received the backing of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he insisted it had no plans to make the rollout of the device mandatory.
Wojciechowski added that there were already many ways of reducing emissions produced by cows, such as by changing their diets, and that such methods were backed by the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy.
Wojciechowski’s comments and the previous media furore came in response to concerns raised by Identity and Democracy politician Annika Bruna.
MEP Bruna is a member of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party submitted a written question on December 6, 2023:
In order to reduce the amount of methane released by cows, private companies – including a British start-up – are developing prototypes of masks to filter out this greenhouse gas.
The device is placed around the animal’s head and can capture the methane emitted when the cow breathes out, using a catalytic converter which then releases carbon dioxide and water into the atmosphere.
Furthermore, according to the press, this research is being funded by the Bill Gates Foundation, but also through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Animals would be bothered by the use of such masks. Therefore, they constitute further regression in terms of animal welfare. Farmers strongly oppose the masks.
- 1.Can the Commission confirm whether this programme is receiving funding through Horizon 2020, as the UK start-up states on its website[2]?
- 2.Is the Commission planning to impose such masks on cows?
