An emissions-reduction gamechanger

It’s rare enough that breakthrough technologies live up to their billing. GasAbate, however, appears to be bucking that trend as news of its potential to slash greenhouse gas emissions on Irish livestock farms piques great interest.

An 80 per cent reduction in methane emissions from slurry is claimed and both the science and trials, the company says, back up the case for the widespread adoption of the technology on Irish farms.
Former editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, Justin McCarthy, is now the CEO of Galway-based Glassport Bio – the company behind the development of this emissions-reducing technology – which was set up in 2018 by Dr Ruairi Friel and Professor Vincent O’Flaherty. GasAbate, Justin says, is the product of science. “The key thing to understand is that the technologies in GlassPort Bio have been rooted in science from the beginning. The researchers started with a blank canvas. They didn’t try to come up with a product and then build the science back around it. The product was informed and designed around the science,” he says. “There’s very strong and accepted science around the ability of the slurry additive developed by Glassport Bio to dramatically reduce methane emissions from stored slurry.”
Justin continues: “If you look across Europe, around 20 per cent of all agricultural emissions come from stored slurry.

So, GasAbate has the potential to have a big impact on the scale of emissions coming from food production. What really appeals to me is that the technology de-segregates the conversation around the idea that the only way to reduce the environmental footprint of livestock agriculture is to reduce [livestock] numbers. In a previous role as Irish Farmers Journal editor, I would have regularly highlighted the nonsense of telling Irish farmers that we should keep less cows to achieve a territorial emission-reduction target. Irish farmers and everybody must put their shoulder to the wheel in terms of reducing emissions from food production, but at the same time, there is no point in doing that in the context of countries like Ireland that have low carbon footprint reducing output and transferring beef and milk production to parts of the world with far greater environmental impacts.”

Resetting the dial

Elaborating on the rationale for GasAbate adoption, Justin says: “We have a technology that allows us to advance livestock agriculture while reducing the environmental footprint. The technology has been peer reviewed by scientists and adopted and trialled on Irish farms, and internationally. It’s ready for a mass rollout. The business model is very much scalable. We’ve had a lot of inquiries from across continental Europe and the US. We’re patent protected internationally. All the parts of the jigs are in place to get this rolled out.”
The practicalities of installation are straightforward, Justin explains: “Traditionally, slurry goes into the tank and begins to break down, producing gas and losing nitrogen and sulphur value. GasAbate basically puts

the bugs to sleep, protecting the value of the slurry and eliminating methane emissions. What we do is protect the nutrients by essentially preserving fresh slurry so that it has the same nutrient value going out onto the land as it had four or five months earlier when it entered the slurry tank.
“The mode of action is an injection system into the tank. The dosing system typically takes a day to install. The technology is totally non-invasive and can be installed when the cows are in the shed. It uses remotely controlled technology with no human intervention. The practical benefits for the farmer include slurry with a higher nitrogen content, that is easier to agitate and that has a much-reduced smell when spread.
"Hydrogen sulphide gas emissions are reduced by 80 per cent, making the agitation process safer, while a much more sulphur-rich slurry is spread. Essentially, the slurry is stabilised over long periods, with volatility and pollutant effects minimised." Justin continues: "The technology works effectively in both underground tanks and open slurry lagoons and is easily retrofitted into existing slurry storage facilities.”

Cost-benefit analysis
Justin outlines the wide-ranging benefits of GasAbate: “The benefactors of reducing methane from slurry include farmers as well as the wider agri-food-processing industry through their regulatory obligations around scope 3 emissions, and the Government which has committed to emissions reduction targets.”
He continues: “Ireland is facing €26bn in fines. One of the recommendations [to reduce emissions] is that the Government should spend €3bn ramping up the rollout of electric cars. An extra 700,000 electric cars would reduce methane emissions by around four million tonnes. If you divide €3bn by four million tonnes, it works out at €750 per tonne of carbon taken out of the atmosphere. If the Government was to fully support the roll-out of GasAbate, the cost per tonne of carbon taken out of the atmosphere would be €75.
"The same way as Government supports the roll-out of electric cars and heat pumps, given the pending fines, there’s a very strong business case for our Government to incentivise and support the adoption of GasAbate.” The same rationale, Justin says, applies to the €90m being paid out by co-ops in sustainability payments. He continues: “For GasAbate adoption to be cost neutral to the farmer would require the Government to cover the cost of the dosage system in addition to half a cent per litre (c/L) sustainability bonus from the food-processing sector. That would be the ideal sweet spot facilitating the introduction of technology that doesn’t involve large cost or management change or livestock reductions by farmers. It’s totally non disruptive and has the added dividend of improved nutrients in the slurry.” The technology supports farmers in becoming more economically viable and more environmentally sustainable, he says.

International interest

Justin says that the company has received a lot of inquiries from Europe, where co-ops are paying up to 3c/L in sustainability bonuses. There will be scope within their schemes to compensate farmers for introducing this technology, he explains. “These countries are not just looking at methane. Ammonia is a very strong air pollutant, and they’re also looking at the potential to reduce the need for chemical fertilisers to improve water quality. The same logic applies in relation to retaining our Nitrates Derogation. If we can grow more grass from our slurry rather than using chemical fertilisers, that’s another positive outcome,” says Justin.
In simple terms for Ireland, GasAbate adoption across Irish farms would do the following: remove the equivalent of 1. 2 million cars from Irish roads; and if rolled out on every pig and cattle farm, would take out about 1.8 million tonnes of the 2.2 million tonnes of methane emitted from stored manure every year. “That’s about 30 per cent of our total emissions, Justin says. “If you look at the 25 per cent national emissions reduction commitment, we could account for about 9 per cent of that. Even if GasAbate were only adopted on dairy farms and cattle feedlots, it would have huge emissions-reduction benefits.”