Bill Gates, the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder, has invested in an Australian climate technology start-up that plans to reduce the methane emissions of cow burps.
Gates has been vocal about the environmental impact of meat production, and methane is the most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.
Livestock such as cows, goats, and deer produce methane when their stomachs are breaking down hard fibres like grass for digestion.
This fermentation process creates methane gas which is then mostly belched out again.
University studies have shown that feeding cows seaweed could significantly cut their methane emissions.
Perth-based start-up Rumin8 is working on a dietary supplement, synthetically replicated from red seaweed, which stops the creation of the gas.
It announced in a statement that it had raised $12mln in a funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which Gates founded in 2015.
The investment firm is also backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Chinese entrepreneur and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma.