Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Scientists have been using lightning to trigger cow dung explosions for more than 20 years
Scientists say their lightning-assisted technique to trap climate-warming methane has resulted in a 50% drop in emission.
They say cow dung emitting methane in deep underground can also be scavenged for carbon in the rut, making it an effective carbon sink.
The EU-funded research is due to conclude next year.
The technique, said to be 16 times more effective than before, was a follow-up of a research project first reported in the 1990s.
Bruce Rankin from the University of Bergen in Norway, who worked on the project with Dr Kent Gillet of the University of Sydney in Australia, told the BBC: “We have proved a cost effective method to capture cow dung gas which has the potential to prevent [methane] methane release at CO2 0.3 latitudes.”
Image copyright Facebook Image caption Dr Gillet’s colleagues and the EU are funding the second project
“The installation has been maintained for the past 10 years and proved to be effective at trapping methane emitted by cow dung in the deep earth.”
The EU-funded research team needs to work with a further 100 farmers and install one million new udders.