A new project will bring together farmers and engineers to demonstrate a novel farm-focused solution for the harvesting of green ammonia from pig waste.
PigProGrAm - Developing a Circular Economy for UK Pig Production Through Green Ammonia Harvesting - has received £600,000 Defra funding to reduce the environmental impact of ammonia emissions.
The on-farm project will investigate the potential to harvest green fuel from livestock slurry, helping to mitigate ammonia emissions from pig farming.
Project leader Richard Cinderey from Beta Technology said: “Harvesting ammonia from livestock waste not only reduces local environmental impacts but provides an exciting opportunity to contribute to reducing climate change.
"The government’s ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’ promotes the growth of low carbon hydrogen as part of the move towards net-zero by 2050.
"Ammonia is a carbon-free molecule with a high weight fraction of hydrogen making it an excellent candidate for its storage and transportation.”
According to AHDB, the project will help create a more sustainable livestock industry by reducing the environmental impact of production by lowering ammonia emissions and creating an additional resource that can be used to produce hydrogen.
The AHDB added: “The generation of green ammonia and conversion to hydrogen from agricultural waste streams delivers valuable products used to decarbonise power and transportation.”
The research project will be delivered via the AHDB, Beta Technology, Duynie, Projex Solutions, the University of Leeds and a commercial pig unit in North Yorkshire.
The progress and results from the project, which launched in October, will be communicated via digital and physical events over the next 18 months.
