There is almost no smell, even if the dung spreader at Galåen samdrift in Røros is in full swing. – The biggest reason why I am involved in this is that it can help to reduce climate emissions. That’s what Lars Jacob Galåen says, he is the general manager of the cooperative, which has an exciting project underway. This can save both money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture accounts for a good portion of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, including here in Norway. Last year, Norwegian emissions from agriculture were 4.6 million tonnes, converted to CO₂. The aim of the project at Røros is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 per cent. Galåen samdrift has a total of 130 dairy cows. Now they are trying to make the most of their poo. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Binds nitrogen The method they use is a machine that, with the help of a plasma reactor, adds and binds more nitrogen to the livestock manure. – This means that the nitrogen remains more stable and, in theory, becomes more available to plants. It produces less nitrogen emissions into the air, says Sigrid Alstad. She is an advisor for soil and plant culture at Norwegian Agricultural Advisory in Trøndelag. The hope of the farmers at Galåen is to replace over 80 tonnes of artificial fertilizer with nitrogen-enriched cow poo. – The dung is approximately 40 per cent more efficient than normal livestock manure, says Lars Jacob Galåen and continues: – This means that we may be left to produce our own fertilizer and that we can contribute to reducing climate emissions, while at the same time producing the same amount of food . The refined dung has previously been referred to as “super dung”. Fertilizer vs. supermøkka Fertilizer is industrially produced, using raw materials that are not primarily of organic origin. Artificial fertilizers usually consist of salts and have a high content of plant nutrients compared to organic fertilisers. Natural fertilizers often have a versatile, but difficult to access, content of plant nutrients. Certain nutrients, such as nitrogen, are completely or partially bound in complicated compounds. The most important natural fertilizer in this country is animal manure. The super manure that is processed in the cleaning cabinet is supplied with nitrogen oxide from the air, using electric arc technology. The process produces odorless nitrogen fertiliser, based on livestock dung, as a result. Source: Store norske lexikon/news Comparing with other fertilizers There are several such projects underway in Norway and the world. Among other things in Eastern and Western Norway, but also in England, Denmark and the Netherlands. Currently, there are no clear figures on whether it is profitable or not. Norsk Landbruksrådgiving is making several attempts to try to find out exactly this. By spreading nitrogen-enriched manure over a patch of land, they compare it with areas fertilized with regular manure or synthetic fertiliser. – Then we harvest grass and grain and weigh it. Then we’ll see how much we get. We haven’t collected enough numbers to publish any results, but it looks like we have an increase in the yield compared to normal dung, says Alstad. One of the challenges is to compare from year to year, explains Alstad: – In agriculture and agronomy, we have so many uncertainty factors. Last year it was dry, and then the nitrogen behaves a little differently than this year when it is wet, she says. There is also a big difference between different plants and how they take up nitrogen. Skule Haagensen and Lars Jacob Galåen inspect the machine that produces the “super dung”. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news A lot of electricity The machine that binds nitrogen to the manure uses a lot of electricity. Skule Haagensen in the company Reneo is involved in developing the technology used at Røros. – It uses a lot of electricity, so we have to come up with new solutions to reduce costs here, he says. Among other things, Galåen Samdrift has set up solar cells to supply the facility with electricity, Lars Jacob Galåen hopes the technology can be even better in the future. – This is a machine that is under development. We hope that it will eventually get better and better, use less electricity and become more efficient. Back on one of the fields in Røros, general manager Galåen stands in front of his manure spreader, and there is almost no smell here. – It is very odorless, and that is because there are fewer exhaust gases.
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Nitrogen in cow poo should cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide better fertilizer – news Trøndelag
