Researchers are trying to identify animals that belch less and graze more efficiently

Scientists in Scotland are trying to breed sheep that produce less greenhouse gas and thereby reduce their impact on the environment.

The grass-to-gas initiative will combine international scientific and industry expertise to measure two factors affecting the environmental consequences of the livestock: methane emissions and feed efficiency. Its goal is to develop ways to identify animals with a lower impact, and then breed from them.

Sheep and other ruminant animals release methane into the atmosphere as a result of “enteric fermentation”, which refers to the digestive chemistry in their stomachs. The methane is exhaled and accounts for the majority of emissions from ruminants.

The animals’ waste also fills the atmosphere with methane depending on how it is handled, meaning that “manure management” is categorised as