SBRI: Reducing Pollution Resulting from Agricultural Ammonia Emissions in the Cattle Sector
Organisations can apply for a share of £1m to develop products or services that reduce the volume of harmful atmospheric pollutants from agriculture.
This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by Welsh Government.
The aim of this competition is to develop products or services that can help reduce harmful pollutants in the atmosphere resulting from agricultural practices that generate ammonia, including from anaerobic digestion.
This is a Phase 2 competition aimed at demonstration, therefore applicants are required to have an existing working prototype of their technology which is in operation on preferably more than 1 farm or agricultural business in Wales. Applicants will also need to demonstrate that their technology takes into account potential pollution swapping and cost – effectiveness for farmers.
Your solution must either prevent emissions of ammonia, extract it from the air or reduce deposition onto sensitive habitats. This can include demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new, emerging or improved products, processes or services in relevant environments. The primary objective is to validate ammonia emissions reductions in products, processes or services that are near-to-market.
-
Any organisation can submit an application, although it is expected that opportunities presented by SBRI will be particularly attractive for SMEs. SBRI is aimed at organisations working on the development of an innovative process, material, device, product or service. Successful applications will be those whose technology best addresses the specific needs identified, with the potential to make a measurable improvement to currently available products, processes materials, devices or services. Development contracts will be awarded only to individual organisations. However, organisations may also wish to demonstrate that successful collaboration will enhance their overall development. Work may be subcontracted but this is the responsibility of the main contractor.
Pre-startup companies may apply, but contracts must be awarded to legal entities.
Universities may apply, however they must demonstrate a route to market, i.e.the application must include a plan to commercialise the results.
-
Projects are expected to commence on 1 February 2024 and to be completed by 1 February 2025.
A maximum budget of £1,000,000 (inclusive of VAT) is available to support up to 5 Phase 2 demonstration projects.
-
Your Phase 2 project must:
- Assemble a robust evidence pack that demonstrates ammonia emissions reductions. For example, the proposed technology will demonstrate a reduction of ammonia emissions by 20% for the duration of the project/experiment at the farm level. Evidence packs are to be of a standard suitable for consideration by the UK Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas inventories requirements.
- Include sufficient capability and capacity to assemble the testing and validation evidence. Ideally, project applications will include scientific/academic subcontractors who have the required experience and facilities to undertake necessary site and laboratory testing and evaluation.
- Demonstrate that the technology takes into account potential pollution swapping. Pollution swapping should be investigated, described and mitigated. Please include measurable effects on Greenhouse Gas such as carbon and methane emissions, as well as phosphorous.
- Evaluate cost – effectiveness for farmers for the implementation of the proposed technology. The costs to farmers and government should be proportionate to the benefit. In other words, if it reduces emissions only marginally it shouldn’t be very expensive. The solution should show significant benefits for farmers. This competition is seeking innovations that would be financially self-sustaining, i.e. the direct on-farm benefit to the farmer is greater than the costs. It will be important for the applicants to set out the expected on-farm benefits as part of their commercialisation road map.
- List side effects and their mitigation. Account for potential disadvantages of the proposed technology implementation in Wales. For example, floating slurry storage covers tend to be blown to the side due to strong winds in some areas. Some flowing covers are impractical to rearrange back as they cover deep slurry lagoons. This dramatically reduces the measure’s effectiveness.
- Comply with current Welsh and UK legislation, particularly with The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021.
- Work closely with potential users and customers to collect and record their feedback.
A maximum budget of £1,000,000 (inclusive of VAT) is available to support up to 5 Phase 2 demonstration projects. Successful applicants will be awarded R&D contracts to deliver:
Phase 2: Demonstration and Evaluation – This should result in a real-world demonstrator, tested in conjunction with end users. Phase 2 involves rigorous field testing for up to 12 months inclusive of final reporting and projects must facilitate the assessment of effectiveness in reducing ammonia emissions.
It is the intention that the findings of this challenge will be made available to experts from Defra, NRW, EA and contractors involved in UK and EU inventories in order to support future access to UK inventories and increase opportunities for future implementation.
-
Click here to watch a recording of the virtual Briefing Event held on Wednesday 8th November 2023.
If you would like help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Agrifood team.