The Government’s new Clean Air Strategy could benefit from the work being done by an EU Interreg NWE-funded research programme, which is looking at potential uses for algae in mitigating and recycling waste which could cause pollution due to agricultural practices.
The Clean Air Strategy aims to reduce the amount of ammonia emissions from agriculture by 88%. These emissions, which are released when slurries, manures and nitrogen fertilisers come into contact with the air, can travel long distances and combine with other pollutants to form particular matter which can be harmful to humans. Storage and processing of large volumes of organic wastes through anaerobic digestion (AD) has been identified as a significant source of ammonia.