On 10 March 2023, the Flemish government approved the decree finalising the programmatic approach to nitrogen (PAS). The decree on PAS came into force on 23 February 2024. The PAS aims to ensure that nitrogen deposition in European protected nature is contained. A key component is the adoption of source-based measures at livestock farms to reduce nitrogen emissions and deposition.
A PAS reference 2030 must be calculated for each pig, poultry or cattle farm. The PAS reference 2030 represents the maximum ammonia emissions for pig, poultry or cattle farms by 31 December 2030. To achieve the PAS reference 2030, the livestock farm can apply ammonia emission-reducing measures.
The overall aim of this project is to ensure that livestock farmers will have more choices when it comes to ammonia emission-reducing measures.
Concrete goals
Specifically, the project partners aim to carry out emission measurements for recognition of at least 3 ammonia emission-reducing measures or combinations of measures who:
- To be as widely implementable as possible. For example, in terms of animal categories, barn and farm types and so on;
- Being valued in the context of licensing policy;
- Implementation and enforcement should be clear and easy to apply;
- On-farm implementation costs should be in reasonable proportion to the reduction potential;
- Measures should not be tied to a single provider.
Project objectives
- Selection of at least 4 (combinations of) ammonia emission-reducing measures;
- Preparation of application for at least 4 (combinations of) ammonia emission reduction measures to VLM;
- Implementation of measurement campaigns around at least 4 (combinations of) ammonia emission-reducing measures;
- Training pilot centres to conduct emissions measurement campaigns;
- Practice validation of indirect indicators of ammonia emissions from cattle, pig and poultry barns.
This project builds on knowledge from past or current projects on ammonia-reducing measures for pig, poultry and cattle farms. These projects help form the basis for the selection of potential ammonia-reducing measures that best meet the predefined criteria. The added value of PAS Rammonia lies in the measurement campaigns, which will be carried out according to the 'Guidelines for determining emissions from livestock housing' (Working Group on Livestock Emissions Guidelines, 2024). Based on these measurements, a dossier will be prepared for submission to the Scientific Committee on Livestock Air Emissions (WeComV) for inclusion on the AER list. In this way, the project can lead to increased availability of ammonia-reducing measures for Flemish livestock farmers.Â
