Coop Sweden has announced that it has teamed up with Volta Greentech to test the effectiveness of a feed additive that reduces methane emissions from cows.
The Swedish start-up claims that its algae feed supplement has the potential to reduce methane emission from cows by 60-90% without affecting the quality of milk.
The study is currently underway in collaboration with Coop Sweden at Lantmännen's farm, Viken, outside Falköping.
The project involves testing the feed on 24 milk cows and will be completed by November 2020, the retailer added.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Methane emissions from cows account for just over 5% of greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden, according to data from UNFCCC and Naturvårdsverket (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency).
Leo Wezelius, CMO at Volta Greentech, commented, “One of the largest sources of emissions is enteric methane gas from cows, which is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in heating the atmosphere.
“With this initiative, the grocery trade is for the first time on the way to soon be able to sell food products from cows that are completely or partially methane-free.”
If successful, the large scale implementation of the feed supplement will enable the Swedish dairy and meat industry to reduce its climate footprint.
Volta Greentech is part of the Swedish food tech accelerator programme, Bloomer.
'Enormous Potential'
Wezelius added, “The solution has enormous potential, but to succeed we must cooperate with both agriculture and the food industry, from suppliers to stores.
"The Bloomer accelerator has given us good conditions to work close to Coop to implement the solution in their value chain.”
As a partner, Coop is involved in and supports its commercialisation by helping the development of sustainable consumer products, the retailer added.
President and CEO of Coop Sweden, Magnus Johansson, said, “Bloomer is a fantastic accelerator programme where we have created a platform for entrepreneurial companies such as Volta Greentech to take their solutions to the next level and make food [in] Sweden more sustainable.
"I follow their development with excitement and am happy that Coop can be an enabler that supports their important work going forward.”
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
