The Region of Murcia accumulates in its more than 2,000 farms 7% of the country’s pig herd – more than 2.5 million of the 35 million heads estimated in all of Spain – which poses serious problems of odors in farm environments and excess nitrateswhich is also part of the problem generated in the Mar Menor. However, an experimental project called SinGEI (an acronym for “no greenhouse gas emissions”) is changing this reality.
The farm of Alfonso Galera, a rancher from Fuente Álamo de Murcia, is part of this pilot. The first thing that surprises you about this complex of 2,000 pigs is the absence of the smell of slurry. The secret is that Alfonso has been using a technological additive that “biohacks” your pigs’ waste. These are “powders” based on ground natural stone, which Galera applies every month in the pits where the slurry is stored. Composed of zeolites, this dust generates bacteria that transform ammonia into ammonium, preventing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The treatment also eliminates nitrates and the bad smell of decomposing organic matter, preventing the reproduction of flies and insects in the stables. Galera highlights the ease of use and low cost of the treatment: «The product comes out at 0.40-0.50 per dose per animal per year. On a farm with 2,000 beds it does not reach 2,000 a year. “When people see what it does, they will use it without hesitation,” he says.
“Biohacking” is the key component to achieve the emissions reduction objectives in livestock farming of the SinGEI pilot project, which arose in response to regulations to protect the Mar Menor, and which It has already been implemented in more than 30 pig farms on this slope of the basin. According to this initiative, which leads Asaja Murciathe planned reduction of ammoniacal nitrogen will reach up to 80% of the pork emissions of the participating farms, “allowing to mitigate at source and decarbonize the Campo de Cartagena.”
To do this, they incorporate technological additives –substances developed through biotechnology– developed by the company Aurelian Biotech in animal feeding systems, manure management or biogas production to reduce the environmental impact of all phases. Furthermore, the slurry treated with this method allows the solid to be separated from the liquid, generating water suitable for irrigating crops. On the other hand, the program improves the well-being of animals and workers by eliminating harmful greenhouse gases such as methane or carbon dioxide.
Yesterday, the project earned Asaja Murcia the “Carbon Awards 2024” world award to decarbonization in livestock farming, awarded by the magazine World Finance in London. For now, the pilot phase (2025-2026) of SinGEI wants to reach 120 farms in the Region of Murcia next year, reaching 5 million places of white-coated pigs and the mitigation of the emission of 125,000 tons of CO2which in six years would be equivalent to planting 6 million trees. The final objective is to reduce the impact of the Murcian agricultural sector and create carbon credits of 10,000 tnCO2 that farmers can sell to finance their activity.