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House of Lords' nitrogen report draws on University research

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Research from 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams University examining how potential pollutants could become helpful on-farm resources has featured in a new House of Lords report.

The Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee’s report into nitrogen management, , examines the impact the chemical can have on the environment, the ways these effects can be minimised – and how scientists are working with farmers to turn this potential pollutant into an important asset.

Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said: “Nitrogen is an essential chemical element for all living things. It constitutes 80 percent of the air we breathe.

“However, when nitrogen combines with other elements, it can form dangerous and deadly pollutants that affect air quality, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths per year - and damages and kills aquatic life, precious habitats, plants and wildlife. The associated economic, social and environmental costs are immense.

“It is an essential priority to quantify the major flows, sources, and sinks of nitrogen and minimise nitrogen pollution by capturing and re-using pollutants, turning them from damaging waste into a valuable resource.”

Evidence from 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams University academics is featured across the report.

It draws on both Dr Marie Kirby’s research stripping nutrients from slurry to create sustainable fertilisers, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Lee’s work with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the role of livestock in a circular bioeconomy.

Dr Kirby’s work at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams has seen her collaborating with the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams, along with industrial partners elentecBio, Merigan, Stoic Options and Mastek to remove water from slurry and create concentrated phosphorus and nitrogen products.

This research project is funded by DEFRA as part of their Farming Innovation Programme Nutrient Management competition and is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.

Dr Kirby also recently talked to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) about the project, in this video:

Speaking afterwards, she said: “We are developing elentecBio’s novel technology at farm-scale to recover phosphorous, nitrogen and organic matter from cattle slurry.

“We’re discussing with the Environment Agency what further uses the water could have.”

The technology works through electrocoagulation, a treatment technology that adds a positive charge to water as a way of recovering nutrients. These separated nutrients can be applied to growing crops, instead of spreading high-water content, low nutrient slurries or synthetic fertilisers.

Dr Kirby added: “There are multiple benefits to this approach.

“We’d like to deliver a practical, investible technology that farmers can use to bring a new revenue stream.

“It will also take a really diffuse high water content, low nutrient slurry and make precision fertilisers that can be used to meet crop and soil demand.

“We’d also like to provide farmers with a way of reducing the requirements for slurry storage and reducing the carbon footprint of slurry management.”

If the research progresses as hoped, Dr Kirby added: “We will reduce the need to import manufactured fertilisers, improving the UK’s food security – and in future, develop a new circular nutrient market to increase employability.”

Speaking about his FAO work, Professor Lee said: “Livestock will be key in a circular bioeconomy – one where manures can be converted into valuable products such as organic fertilisers, just like those Marie is looking at in her research.

“This not only reduces environmental pollution – but also the demand on non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and mined minerals.

“The full report will be formally launched at the FAO conference in Rome in September - but I was able to provide a preview for the committee’s evidence synthesis.”

Professor Lee welcomed the Committee’s recognition of the value of the research being undertaken at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams through its inclusion in their report.

He added: “As Baroness Sheehan explained, we need to both measure and understand nitrogen pollution better, and to work on new ways to re-use pollutants and switch them from challenges for the environment into solutions for our future food security.

“The report calls on the government to take a more strategic, holistic and innovative approach to nitrogen management – one which recognises the importance of tougher regulation but also the chance to deliver improved outcomes for 91ÇÑ×Ó health, the climate, nature, wildlife, and farmers.

“It is heartening to see that research led at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams can play a significant role in understanding how a potential pollution risk can be turned into a valuable opportunity - and a resource for farmers.”