October 26,  2020

Danish committee presents measures for mitigating ammonia emissions

An expert committee, which was set up by Danish Minister of the Environment, Lea Wermelin, has come up with measures to mitigate ammonia emissions - of which agriculture is a major contributor in Denmark.

The country seeks to cut ammonia emissions by 24% this year to comply with ammonia standards stated in the EU NEC directive. Agriculture makes up 94% of ammonia emissions, with half originating from agricultural land and rest from barns and manure pits.

The NEC committee consists of representatives from Agriculture & Food, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, SEGES, the Danish Agroindustry and Aarhus University.

The committee's recommended measures are: voluntary agreements on less crude protein in feed for fattening pigs and dairy cattle; increased use of tent covering of manure holdings; and a one-month extension of the period during which it is generally forbidden to apply liquid livestock manure.

- Ministry of the Environment and Food (Denmark)