GreenShed: Shaping the future of livestock emissions

PROFESSOR CAROL-ANNE DUTHIE, SRUC

Beyond the hysteria and the hyperbole, however, there’s no doubt that beef farming is a major source of methane and that the industry itself has reached a turning point. It is facing greater pressure than ever before to reduce its environmental impact while also maintaining or increasing productivity as well as improving its broader sustainability.

There are, of course, bigger contributors to climate change, most notably the continuing use of fossil fuels and air travel. But when it comes to the court of public opinion, beef production occupies an unwanted place at the top of the environmental charge sheet.

Setting aside whether this is fair on the industry, as a ruminant scientist for the best part of 20 years, my colleagues and I are focused on what is within our gift to try to make a difference.

Those of you who visited the SRUC stand during the Royal Highland Show might have noticed a Lego model of our new GreenShed facility, which proved as popular among adults as it did with kids.

It’s not how we first imagined introducing GreenShed to the world, but sometimes – to tell a story – you need to think outside the box. It’s the same when it comes to science.

Funded by the UK Government, GreenShed is a pioneering project capable of transforming beef production with sustainable, practical solutions. Led by SRUC, the GreenShed consortium offers a blueprint for the future of low-carbon circular beef farming.

Armed with the mantra of not letting anything go to waste, used straw bedding is loaded into a hopper to generate useable energy, which is able to remove the methane-rich air at the same time.

The shed integrates several advanced technologies to create a low-carbon, circular farming system. This includes a bespoke shed membrane with high-volume air recirculation systems to capture methane emissions from the animals, micro-anaerobic digesters to produce biogas from manure, and efficient combined heat and power (CHP) engines.

This energy is then used to run the heating, lighting and air conditioning of the shed itself and thereby significantly reduce a farm’s carbon footprint.

Although a purpose-built facility at SRUC, the GreenShed model can be retrofitted to existing farm buildings. It extends to various farming operations, promoting resource efficiency and sustainability by utilising waste products to generate energy.

At the end of the cycle, the energy produced powers a vertical farm, with the produce grown providing farmers with an additional income stream.

GreenShed is highly cost-effective; it leads to significant savings in energy for farmers while offering the potential for additional income through the sale of surplus energy. A 100-cattle shed using the GreenShed system could save up to £1,000 a year in heat energy costs and generate approximately £60,000 a year from electricity sales, produce from the vertical farm and a low-carbon premium from the beef produced.

The farming industry has already shown that it is willing to embrace change, and GreenShed is very much part of that.

It is more than technological innovation; it’s a shift in how we approach agriculture. The project involves collaboration among researchers, farmers, and industry stakeholders, ensuring that the solutions developed are practical, scalable, and tailored to the needs of the farming community.

This collaboration fosters a culture of innovation and sustainability that can inspire other agricultural sectors.

GreenShed also has the potential to reshape consumer perceptions and behaviours. As environmental awareness grows, shoppers are becoming more conscious of the carbon footprint of their food.

The resulting low-carbon beef offers a way for customers in the supermarket or butchers to make more sustainable choices. By providing a model for environmentally friendly beef production, GreenShed can shift market demand towards greener products, driving broader changes in the industry.

GreenShed’s approach to methane capture, resource efficiency, and economic viability sets a new standard.

As we move towards a net zero future, embracing projects like GreenShed is vital. The future of agriculture depends on our ability to innovate and collaborate.

GreenShed is leading the charge, showing that environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity can coexist.