Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The world‚ 1.5 billion cows cause 6% of the world‚ greenhouse gas emissions by burping out methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year timeframe. Worldwide, as hundreds of millions of people rise out of poverty, they are consuming more meat and dairy, as well. Billions of people around the world depend on meat and dairy for their livelihood and their nutrition. However, the meat and dairy industry is a massive contributor to climate change.

Symbrosia exists to bring the diets and livelihoods of people worldwide back into alignment with the long-term health of our planet by eliminating livestock methane emissions. We have developed a breakthrough seaweed feed supplement that, when sprinkled into livestock feed, reduces livestock methane emissions by over 90%.

When our Founder & CEO Alexia Akbay was in graduate school, she read the early research on this antimethanogenic seaweed, and started the world‚ first company to cultivate the seaweed at scale. Symbrosia won sustainability awards early on from Yale and MIT to kick-off prototyping efforts. With a proof of concept in hand, Alexia closed a seed round and moved the company to Hawai‚ i with the HATCH Accelerator Program, gaining access to marine laboratories and outdoor facilities.

Now, funded by the NSF, the USDA, and NOAA, Symbrosia‚ world class R&D team has developed the world‚ fastest-growing A. taxiformis. We are commercializing a new ocean crop, enabling people, businesses, and entire communities to move beyond methane.

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First time I have felt optimistic in working with climate. Only solution we have been presented with so far is ‚ Get rid of those damn cows!‚ Very enthused. Anxious to get info! We are on the plains of Colorado. 

Our work supports a just transition for meat and dairy producers. Just as we need to ensure that our transition to renewable energy does not displace oil and gas workers, we believe that the transition to a sustainable food system must center around food producers. Our climate-friendly feed additive empowers meat and dairy producers to become part of the solution to climate change instead of leaving them behind. 

According to the World Bank, 500 million people rely on livestock herding for food, income, and as a store of wealth, collateral, or a safety net in times of need. The majority of these people worldwide live in developing countries in some of the communities that are most vulnerable to climate change and are already feeling its effects. At scale, our seaweed feed additive offers these people a way to maintain their livelihoods and the health of our planet. 

The quotation at the start of this answer is from a rancher who reached out to us, eager to try our product. Despite the importance of livestock to our food system and to peoples‚ livelihoods worldwide, livestock producers have been cast aside by today‚ climate movement. Our work is defining a new sociocultural pathway for livestock producers, one where we collectively acknowledge that the choices we make in how we raise animals affect their role in the climate movement.

Lastly, we prioritize women and minority farmers when selecting farms to partner with on A. taxiformis implementation trials. As we scale our operations to more farms in the United States and beyond, we will continue to uplift and recognize diverse farmers.

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