A project looking at the potential of producing hydrogen fuel from pig waste has received £600,000 funding from the UK Government.
The PigProGrAm – Developing a Circular Economy for UK Pig Production Through Green Ammonia Harvesting – project is being delivered by a consortium of partners including farm levy body the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the University of Leeds and a commercial pig farm in North Yorkshire.
AHDB says the project, which received funding from Defra and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will bring together farming and engineering expertise to demonstrate a novel farm-focused solution for the harvesting of green ammonia from pig waste.
“We hope that the PigProGrAm project is the first stage of a larger demonstration of the potential of this innovative approach to harvesting green ammonia from livestock and will help the UK meet its net-zero emission target,” said AHDB head of knowledge exchange for pork, Jen Waters.
“It could also have a significant impact on the public perception of pig farming as it represents an opportunity to reposition pork production from being part of society’s environmental problems to being part of its solution.”
She said investigating the potential to harvest ‘green fuel’ from livestock slurry was one of several projects AHDB is working on to help mitigate ammonia emissions from pig farming.
“It is a major opportunity for all classes of livestock production, not just pigs but dairy, beef and poultry as well,” added Ms Waters.
According to AHDB, the project will help create a more sustainable livestock industry in the UK by reducing the environmental impact of production by lowering ammonia emissions and creating an additional resource that can be used to produce hydrogen.
The levy body said: “The generation of green ammonia and conversion to hydrogen from agricultural waste streams delivers valuable products used to decarbonise power and transportation.”
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