The Guardian reports that Microsoft's co-founder lead the investment round for Australian startup Rumin8, that aims to solve the problem of cow-related emissions by feeding them a special kind of seaweed.

Rumin8 is not the only company that hopes to reduce methane emissions coming from bovines, as Volta is another company co-founded in Sweden by a Romanian that already uses the same principle to cut cow emissions by 90%.

This means that Rumin8's plan could very well work and shouldn't be trial and error, as the company already developed some supplements that should help cows reduce the emissions coming from their burps.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is around 80 times more powerful than CO2, although it can only stay in the atmosphere for around two decades compared to carbon dioxide's hundreds of years.

New Zealand is a country that proposed the introduction of a tax that woulld enable the reduction of cow and sheep-related methane emissions.

Since each cow of the planet's one billion has the ability to release around 100 kilograms of methane throughout one year, it's easy to see how reducing their emissions can dramatically improve our chances to fight climate change.

US and EU officials have already pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% before 2030 and since meat consumption is expected to rise in the future, companies are looking at new ways to reduce the animals' output of methane.

David Messina, managing director of Rumin8, said that "our laboratory results continue to yield excellent results, our animal trials are reflecting the laboratory results, and the financial modeling we are undertaking is indicating we will be able to supply our products at a commercial price point."