Ben & Jerry’s Battle Against The Belch

Ben & Jerry’s first embarked on a campaign to ‘Lick Global Warming’ back in 2002 and now they’re on a mission against emissions, and we’re not just talking carbon emissions. Yes, the ethical ice cream makers are tackling a whole herd of different gases by facing up to the fact that its Friesian friends’ flatulence contributes to global warming.

In fact your average Dolly or Daisy releases around 400gms of methane a day, thanks to their belching and farting. Carbon Dioxide is by far the biggest contributor to climate change but methane has 23 times the warming potential of CO2, so reducing its emission is important.

So, Ben & Jerry’s is investing a minimum of €2.4 Million across a five year period to become Climate Neutral. That means going beyond Carbon Neutral by also taking into account other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide (laughing gas). From breaking less wind to building more wind farms, Ben & Jerry’s is intent on reducing its carbon hoofprint, from cow to carton. The plan is to reduce Ben & Jerry’s total climate impact by 10% - here’s to creaming it!

Of course, tackling methane on the farm is a complex process but by altering cows’ feed, Anniek Mauser, Happy Cow Girl at Ben & Jerry’s, believes they’ve found a solution. She says: “We can’t stop cows from doing what comes naturally, but we can work on methane emission reduction by changing animal feed to increase animal digestive ease’”

Just a lot of hot air? Udder nonsense: Ben & Jerry’s is part of the Climate Neutral initiative developed by a consortium of 38 NGOs in the Netherlands. Ben & Jerry’s bid to become Climate Neutral addresses every stage of the supply chain, categorised into 3 steps: 1) maximise energy efficiency, 2) move to lower carbon or renewable energy sources, and 3) mitigate the negative effects of climate change through the purchase of high-quality, regulated carbon offsets.

Something To Chew Over

- As we speak some 23 million dairy cows are grazing across Europe
- Between 9% and 12% of the energy that a cow consumes is converted into methane
- In Scotland, cows produce 46% of all methane emissions
- Of the 400gm of methane emitted a day, 99% is from belching, 1% from farting