Cows could be given vaccines to reduce the amount of methane in their burps and farts.
Cows could be vaccinated to reduce methane emissions
Scientists in New Zealand are exploring ways to make the animals more eco-friendly as the planet tries to combat global warming.
Methane - which cows emit from eating grass - is at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is considered to be a major factor behind climate change.
The jab has the potential to reduce cattle gases by 30 per cent. It stimulates cows' immune systems to produce antibodies that dampen the output of methane-producing microbes.
Peter Janssen, a principal scientist at AgResearch, said: "I don't believe there's any other place that has the breadth of ambition that New Zealand has in terms of the range of technologies being investigated in any one place."
The boffin is convinced that the jab will have the desired effect.
He said: "I believe it's going to work - that's the motivation for doing it."