{"id":3500,"date":"2021-07-20T12:54:34","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T12:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/n2applied.com\/?p=3500"},"modified":"2023-01-25T09:19:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T09:19:00","slug":"n2-applied-begins-first-uk-trial-of-agricultural-emissions-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/n2applied.com\/2021\/07\/20\/n2-applied-begins-first-uk-trial-of-agricultural-emissions-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"N2 Applied Begins First UK Trial Of Agricultural Emissions Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

London, UK<\/em>: N2 Applied, the European agricultural technology business, today announced the UK\u2019s first trial of a breakthrough technology that eliminates harmful emissions and enriches the nutrient content of livestock manure, offering a substantial step forward for the dairy food industry as it pursues net-zero targets.<\/p>\n

The N2 Unit is at the centre of a European Union-funded trial[1]<\/sup> taking place at international dairy company Arla Foods\u2019 new Innovation Farm in Buckinghamshire, UK. Using a scientific technique that applies just air and electricity to slurry, the N2 Unit performs a plasma conversion that \u2018locks in\u2019 methane and ammonia to the liquid waste material, producing a sustainable fertiliser.<\/p>\n

The trial is being undertaken as part of Arla\u2019s leading farm standards programme, Arla UK 360. It will monitor ammonia emissions and assess the practicalities of this innovative technology within a commercial farm setting. It will aim to generate valuable information on what is needed in order to enable more farmers to be able to implement the equipment on farms to support the sustainability of their business amongst growing pressures on managing agricultural carbon footprints.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Arla shared the output from the first year of its landmark Climate Check programme. As part of the insights generated, manure management was highlighted as one of the five main levers that will have a positive effect in supporting the farmer-owned co-operative\u2019s commitment to a 30 per cent reduction of on-farm carbon emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n

\u201c2050 is a long way off, but to meet our goals of carbon net zero farming we need to start looking at technologies that can help us now,\u201d said Alice Swift, Agriculture Director, Arla Foods UK. \u201cOur Innovation Farm allows us to work with partners like N2 to investigate the feasibility of cutting-edge technology like this on our farmers\u2019 behalf, to see what\u2019s possible and what might be commercially feasible for our farms in the future. This trial shows there is indeed technology out there to help us meet our goals \u2013 but we need to find ways of making these work on a practical and affordable level on-farm, which is what this project will explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as assessing the practicalities, treated slurry from the farm is being used for scientific crop trials that will assess how the treated material can help reduce on-farm emissions being released into the atmosphere via a reduced need for chemical fertiliser.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis technology has profound implications for the UK\u2019s dairy food sector. If N2 Units were adopted across the UK dairy herd today they could deliver 17 to 21 per cent of the National Farmers\u2019 Union (NFU) emission reduction target for livestock.[2]<\/sup>The ability to cut harmful slurry-based ammonia emissions offers a pathway to practical testing of methane emission reduction, and a giant leap towards the industry becoming net-zero and helping to tackle climate change,\u201d said Carl Hansson, CEO, N2 Applied.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have high hopes for the trial, and thank Arla Foods for its collaboration in investigating the potential. While this is the first UK deployment on a farm, others elsewhere in Europe have seen ammonia and methane emissions being greatly reduced, Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) increased and improvements in soil health and crop yield,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup>Trial Project<\/u><\/p>\n

This project has received funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101008819.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup>UK Government and NFU Targets<\/u><\/p>\n