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A Norwegian technology company has invented a way to stop slurry (the fertilising mixture of manure, hay and water) emitting so much methane – by zapping it with artificial lightning.
Oslo-based N2 Applies is testing its plasma technology across Europe, including at three farms in Britain, for the safety both of farm workers and the planet.
“In essence, we’re harnessing lightning to zap livestock slurry and lock in harmful emissions,” N2’s Chris Puttick told Reuters at a test farm in Buckinghamshire.
According to NASA, cow burps emit that far more methane than the slurry created from their manure in specialised – and potentially deadly – slurry pits and lagoons.
Farm worker fatalities are often linked to these pits. Back in 2014 an eight-year-old boy died in Northern Ireland after being overcome by toxic fumes – including ammonia and methane – from a slurry tank on his farm.
The new technology from N2, which is machine housed in a standard-sized shipping container, is being used to treat these slurry pits so that they can continue producing fertiliser but without posing a risk to either farmers or the planet.
The machine uses nitrogen from the air and a 50kw plasma torch to “lock in” the emissions, Mr Puttick explained.
“When we add nitrogen from air to the slurry, it changes the environment to stop methanogenesis basically.
“So it drops the Ph down to just below six and we’re catching that early. So it stops the breakdown of those methane microbes that then release the gas to the air,” he said.
After being processed the machine itself excretes an odourless brown liquid, called NEO – a Nitrogen Enriched Organic fertiliser – which N2 says contains double the nitrogen content of regular nitrogen fertilisers, which are used to boost crop production.
Mr Puttick told Reuters that independent…
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Source : skynews
