GlasPort Bio secures €1.5m in SEAI research funding

GlasPort Bio in collaboration with Ashleigh Farms is delighted to announce the beginning of a brand new project – GasAbate Complete: green energy boosting technology – complete offering for poultry, swine, dairy & beef sectors. The project was chosen as part of the SEAI Research, Development and Demonstration Funding Programme 2024 receiving the full amount of €1,500,000 and will run over 48 months. The project aims to demonstrate how GasAbate-treated slurry can transform all animal manures into efficient, cost-effective feedstocks for anaerobic digestion. This supports Ireland’s climate and energy goals while boosting agricultural productivity and reducing national greenhouse gas emissions.

Project summary

Animal manure slurry is a valuable source of nutrients, both as an organic fertiliser and also as a feedstock for renewable energy generation through a process called Anaerobic Digestion (AD). In Ireland, animal slurry must be stored for up to six months, and this storage period acts as a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing the slurry to lose nutrients and AD feedstock value.

GlasPort Bio have developed GasAbate, an additive for stored slurry. This reduces GHG emissions by >80% and allows greater energy output from stored slurry when processed in AD. As part of the government strategy to reduce GHG emissions and increase renewable energy in Ireland, slurry has been identified as a feedstock for AD as a key element to meet binding emissions and renewable energy targets. There are many challenges to achieving these targets and this project will ensure these challenges are overcome.

Over the course of this project we will demonstrate retention of nutrient and energy value for efficient downstream utilisation of animal slurry as a valuable feedstock for farm-based AD plants. This will greatly reduce Ireland’s GHG emissions and make Irish agriculture more competitive internationally.