Empowering Farmers and Saving the Planet — Symbrosia’s New Carbon Offsets Program
Today, we’re pushing for net-zero emissions
Today, September 21, is Zero Emissions Day.
In honor of this day, we are excited to launch the Symbrosia Offsets Program! Now, through a new kind of carbon offset offered by Symbrosia, you can offset your personal emissions and directly support climate-friendly farmers. Your offset purchase goes straight to farmers to subsidize the costs of adding our antimethanogenic seaweed feed supplement to the diet of their livestock.
When we power our homes, drive our cars, or eat our food, we’re responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon offset is anything that prevents greenhouse gas emissions or removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to balance out these emissions. Common types of offsets include reforestation projects, renewable energy production, and clean cooking initiatives. Some high-potential, carbon capture companies (such as Climeworks) also offer offsets. They counteract your emissions by extracting that same amount of CO2 from the air and storing it for a long, long time.
Our carbon offset, which works by reducing livestock methane emissions with seaweed, has the best attributes of both standard and more experimental offsets. Like tree planting, it’s natural and easy to implement. Like direct air capture, all emissions reductions are permanent and measurable. Our seaweed feed supplement is a new, innovative emissions reduction technology that will have massive climate impacts at scale.
Symbrosia supports a just transition for farmers
When we researched available carbon offsets, we noticed a lack of options for individuals and companies that want to support both the planet and livestock farmers. As all sectors of our economies shift to sustainable production, we think it is crucial to ensure a just and equitable transition for livestock farmers, since their practices will need to adapt to a changing world.
We see an opportunity to support a just transition for farmers and fill a gap in the carbon offsets market by offering our own offset. Farmers who add our seaweed supplement into their feed will produce premium products for climate-conscious consumers, and meet methane reduction requirements from governments. We’re proud that our product and our new carbon offsets empower livestock farmers to be part of a food system that works for them and the planet.
You can enable farmers to reduce livestock methane emissions by 90%
Normally, livestock emit a lot of methane, a greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2. Through a process called enteric fermentation, the hydrogen (H2) in their stomachs combines with CO2 produced by gut bacteria to form methane (CH4), which is then released every time the animal burps. However, Asparagopsis taxiformis, the seaweed we cultivate, has glands which contain special metabolites. These molecules react with the CO2 produced by the gut bacteria before that CO2 can be used to form methane. Without one of the two key reactants, methane molecules cannot be produced.
Although the reaction that powers our carbon offset happens on the microscopic level, it has a massive impact on net emissions. While an animal is on our seaweed-feed diet, 90% of the methane it would normally produce and burp out is not created. In the next few years, we think our product will help to catalyze a carbon-neutral meat and dairy industry.
When you purchase a carbon offset through Symbrosia, your purchase is passed on to farmers to subsidize the costs of integrating our seaweed feed supplement into the diet of their livestock. We’re still early-stage, and focused on scaling seaweed production, so every bit of support with on-farm implementation costs makes a huge difference to us and our partner farms. When you make an offset purchase through Symbrosia, you are bringing the sustainable livestock feed of the future into the hands of farmers, which brings the whole industry closer to carbon neutrality.
We need plant-based meat. And, we need cleaner beef
You might be wondering why we’re so focused on creating a feed supplement for livestock when these animals, cows in particular, contribute significantly to climate change. Isn’t plant-based meat getting really popular, and replacing cows in our diets?
Although the plant-based meat market is growing rapidly, it still has less than 2% of the product volume of the meat industry. At Symbrosia, we’re acutely aware that we’re running out of time to solve the problem of climate change, and that most of the world is not going to stop eating beef anytime soon. Right now, there are 1 billion cows in the world causing 6% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions just by burping out methane. Eating plant-based meat is helpful, but we also need to find ways to eat much more environmentally friendly meat.
This is where Symbrosia comes in. We are realists, with our planet’s long-term health top of mind. We know that our antimethanogenic product is an important part of the solution to climate change, and the offsets you buy through our program will help us scale distribution to the many farmers interested in our novel feed supplement.
Are you ready to become a First Moo-ver 🐮? Join us.
Our seaweed feed supplement is a brand new emissions reduction technology. It will decrease the climate impact of the meat and dairy industry, an industry that is difficult to decarbonize. And it will do so in a way that empowers farmers instead of leaving them behind. We hope you’ll consider offsetting your emissions through Symbrosia today.
If you have any feedback, ideas, or questions on our offsets program, we would love to hear from you! Email us whenever — we’re happy to discuss carbon offsets, emissions reduction, and seaweed until the cows come home 🐮.
Eli Etzioni writes for Symbrosia, a cleantech startup reducing livestock methane emissions with seaweed.
