ongoing

The PIGergy consortium will research methods to sustainably treat pig manure, and generate a value-added feedstock for a micro-CHP system for use on-site at small pig farms

Project Insights

  • €243,586

    Total Project Costs
  • 2 yr

    Project Duration
  • 2019

    Year Funded

Project Description

The project consortia present PIGergy, a project which aims to develop and validate innovative solutions to treat agricultural (pig/swine) waste, significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to produce an energy system to contribute to a sustainable, low carbon, and climate-friendly economy. The project aspires to close the loop in the swine industry, recycling the bio-waste produced in pig farms through novel pathways of treatment and subsequent renewable energy generation. The project focuses on Ireland and Italy where collectively there were over 10 million pigs in 2016 (Eurostat, 2018). In Ireland alone, almost 3 million tonnes of liquid pig manure is produced on an annual basis. Currently, most of the pig manure produced is land spread, a practice which leads to pressures in terms of sufficiently available land area and the possibility of pollution of surface and ground waters. A viable, sustainable solution for treatment and energy production is urgently required. Please note the Total Project Costs included on this page relate to the Irish project partners only. Please refer to the ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems website for further details of international project partners.

Project Details

Total Project Cost: €243,586

Funding Agency: SEAI

Year Funded: 2019

Lead Organisation: GlasPort Bio

Collaborators: Future Pigs Green Generation; KiRa Technologies (Italy); Azienda Agricola Minotti (Italy)

Aoife McCarthy

Lead Researcher