Best practice: Bottom-up solutions - cheaper ammonia reductions

Societal changes often challenge people to think in new and different ways which can trigger innovative solutions to well-known issues. The story of Fons Gios is no exception to this rule.

When the Flemish environmental legislation required pig farmers to lower the ammonia emissions in their stables by 50%, a costly and time consuming investment loomed in the horizon for many farmers. Ventilation, air scrubber, etc. can lower the ammonia emissions from farms, but such solutions can also put a lot of pressure on the economic health of a farmer’s enterprise.

By chance Fons Gios had discovered that when he added certain bacteria to the manure in his stable, the nitrogen/phosphorus content had been changed. So he guessed that the ammonia emissions also could be lower. If this could be proven, it would definitely be a cost-effective solution to meet the requirements and he wondered, therefore, if the government would be willing to accept this alternative way to comply with environmental regulations.

Fons decided to call the Innovation Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development, an innovation broker within the sector, to discuss his idea.

The innovation broker immediately saw the possibilities and promise in Fons's case. If this innovative method worked, the results would not only help this specific pig farm, but the entire sector. After gaining support from the knowledge institute for Agriculture and Fishing (ILVO), the innovation broker offered to help Fons find additional funding for his experiment. They succeeded in securing money to help pay for the measuring by an environmental institute and to gather scientific data on the results.

The first results were clear and good: 50% emission reduction was almost reached. However, later data showed a somewhat lower reduction. Further work may improve the methodology and thus result in a simple and cost-effective emission reducing solution. It is a creative solution to a sector-wide challenge which would never have been discovered if Fons Gios had not shared his hunch about a potential innovative solution and if an innovation broker had not been available to catch hold of his idea and develop it together with the knowledge institutes.

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