My solution is breaking boundaries in the world of agriculture by providing a safe and environmentally safe way to dispose of the methane produced by livestock. Other products have been made, like the methane backpack for cows, but they were only a proof-of-concept and not actually pushed forwards making my solution a stand-alone idea. My deliverable will be a collection system prototype that is connected to a container that holds methanotrophs.

Clean Culture is a product that aims to solve a problem that most livestock farms face: Methane pollution. Methanotrophs are a type of bacteria that digest methane with a special protein called methane monoxygenase. This solution will hopefully be another product that is getting us closer to saving the Earth from human produced green house gases.

Attached is a link to my research document that supports my ideation and creation of Clean Culture.

Attachments

Recently greenhouse gases have been the subject of many pieces of legislation and company plans. Carbon Dioxide is the main enemy that is constantly being attacked, but methane is often overlooked as a possible issue. According to the American Society for Microbiology, methane emissions have 20 to 30 times the greenhouse gas trapping effect compared to CO2. More importantly, the main perpetrator of methane pollution is the beef industry. Ag-gag laws and other pieces of legislation not only keep the horrors and real effects of the industry from the public, but they don't do anything to stop the pollution that is being created.

My product plans to solve the dangerous methane pollution created by the farming industry in a friendly way both to the farm and to the environment. The product will be both the collection tool and the system where the methane is broken down by microbes, called methanotrophs. By collecting methane and using methanotrophs I will be able to reduce the amount of methane produced through the methanotrophs respiration. Methanotrophs have a special protein called methane monooxygenase that allows them to break the bonds in methane molecules.

My target audience will be farmers in local areas, and eventually if I could create a genuine product then I would strive to have large farms using Clean Culture. This is my target audience because they are the most likely to be open to the idea, and because this is just a simple beginning to the product we have to make sure it works on a small scale before it works on the market.

Clean Culture was inspired by the problem. At first I had a completely different idea, one that focused on protecting the environment through eco-friendly products, but I decided that wasn’t the best idea I could have come up with. After looking into other problems that we face environmentally I realized that methane was a problem that was only getting recognition when it came from landfills, but the main emitter was cattle farming.When I started looking into current solutions I couldn’t find anything of value. I started to think of other ways chemicals naturally “go away.” Just like how trees absorb carbon dioxide to photosynthesize. Then I stumbled upon methanotrophs which were known as a natural sink for methane. This is when I really started getting into the data and information all into one forming idea. The struggles that we face if we do not solve this imminent issue is what is pushing me to make this a possibility. The possible 2°C that we can increase in global temperatures by 2050 won’t be stopped if we don’t help reduce the emissions of methane, and this is why we need Clean Culture.