– by ATB
The 3rd RES4LIVE national workshop in Germany took place in cooperation with the EmiMod project meeting on 5 and 6 June at ATB Potsdam, LVAT Groß Kreutz, and BAuA Berlin. Among the 37 participants were members of main research facilities & universities, industry, and consulting in livestock with a focus on emission mitigation. Therefore, the subject emissions were also taken up as a topic to further look into. The relevant interventions for this at the LVAT farm are the BioCNG upgrade plant and filling station and the tube ventilation and cooling system.
The possibility of defossilisation of a farm tractor and vehicle fleet was widely acknowledged by the participants. Economic aspects were quickly recognized when results of data analyses showed that one CNG tractor of medium power level only utilizes the BioCNG plant to about 15 %, indicating again that farms willing to invest in such a plant need to have a concept for usage of at least 75 % of the time to make the plant feasible. Investment in the BioCNG upgrade plan should come with a business plan that also includes potential users external to the farm. Future emission-related studies should also include the composition change of the biogas due to the off-gas that is reverted to the biogas plant. This might have an impact on the efficiency of the engine in the combined heat and power plant. More in-depth life cycle and economic analyses are required to assess the overall environmental impact and also the social acceptance. The main emission-related question about the tube ventilation and cooling system was if this actually could also contribute to emission mitigation in peak times due to cooling down the air in the barn. Specifically, ammonia emissions are known to depend on temperature, and this could be another topic to investigate. The synergy of improving barn climate while using solar energy at relevant peak times was also noted.
© all photos ATB
