'We want to contribute to the reduction of emissions'

Jan Pieter van Tilburg and Wouter Schep, 2 dairy farmers from the province of Groningen, are going to test a technique in which the heat from the milk and manure is reused in their company. "The main goal is to contribute to the reduction of various emissions", Van Tilburg says.

It is a new concept: the combination of recovering heat from milk and manure. "The idea arose from the fact that the heat from the milk is too low in the cold winter months to provide the flushing installation, calf milk replacer, canteen and private home with sufficient heat," says Van Tilburg. The dairy farmer says that in these months there are many manure is available, which can be used to extract heat.

However, that is not the only reason for this project. "We had been looking for a way for a while to contribute to the reduction of, among other things, the methane- and ammonia emissions† This is a subject that has been mentioned more and more in recent times, including in the visions of Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality)," continues Van Tilburg.

Cooling the manure
The dairy farmers hope to make the technology applicable to more companies. "That is why we are working with a new and an existing stable. I will deliver the existing stable and Wouter will deliver the new stable, which will most likely be ready in April." If the technology works well on both farms, the technology will be applicable to almost all manure pits.

In addition to utilizing heat and reducing emissions, there are two more goals to be achieved with this project: a better stable climate and an improvement of the manure quality. "For the latter subject, we have started exploratory research, in which we investigate what exactly happens in the slurry pit." The Groningen dairy farmer indicates that research is being done into the amount of ammonia and methane emissions from cooled manure, among other things.

The hope (and expectation) is that the quality of the manure will improve if the manure is cooled and that emissions will decrease at the same time. To measure this, the effects of the ground temperature are examined, among other things. "By isolating the well, we hope to eliminate the effect of ground temperature. We then want to cool the manure and see what the effects are on methane and ammonia emissions."

Outside help
The 2 dairy farmers are supported by L'orèl Consultancy, which supports the adjustment of the measuring equipment and the measurement and monitoring of the manure cooling installations. The province of Groningen also makes a financial contribution: it subsidizes 40% of the subsidy costs and therefore contributes an amount of more than € 55.000.

"We have been working on setting up this project since the spring and it took a lot of time to obtain a subsidy. It is not a matter of raising your hand. We are therefore very happy that the province has decided to join in. contribute to our project", explains Van Tilburg.

The exploratory study will run until April 2019 and the installations will be commissioned from March. The companies then hold an open day in May where the installations and working methods are shown. "However, it is not yet clear when the results will be known, but we hope that this can offer a solution for more livestock farmers in the long term."

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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