Teagasc experts met recently in Bandon to see how methane emissions from slurry can be reduced on farms by 78%, helping to meet Ireland’s carbon reduction targets.
Established in 2018, GlasPort Bio is a Galway-based biotechnology company behind GasAbate, a liquid additive injected into slurry tanks.
The company say that independent trials have shown that GasAbate can reduce methane emissions from stored cattle and pig slurry by 78%, hydrogen sulphide by 80%, and ammonia by 50%.
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GlasPort Bio hosted a demonstration of GasAbate for Teagasc t researchers and advisers on Carbery Group’s and BiOrbic’s climate-neutral project Farm Zero C, based at Shinagh Estates Dairy Farm in Bandon, as well as on a commercial Carbery farm nearby.
As well as the reduced methane emissions claimed by GlasPort Bio, depending on the level of intensity, GasAbate can reduce carbon emissions from 0.3 tonnes to 1.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per cow per year. Dairy farms that use GasAbate to treat slurry can cut the carbon emissions per litre of fat and protein-corrected milk by 7% to 28%, depending on their intensity.
At the demonstration, Professor Vincent O’Flaherty of GlasPort Bio showed Teagasc advisers how GasAbate is applied in a farm setting, and how the system measures the slurry volumes, the levels of GasAbate applied, and how the methane emission reductions are reported.
GasAbate has recently received third-party assurance for its impact on greenhouse gas emissions from the Carbon Trust, the globally recognised independent climate consultancy.
GlasPort Bio CEO Justin McCarthy said the biotech firm was delighted to showcase its technology to Teagasc on the Carbery farms.
‘We have a long-standing partnership with Carbery Group and its sustainability team, led by Enda Buckley, having installed the first system on its climate-neutral project farm, Farm Zero C, four years ago.
‘More recently we rolled the technology out across a further nine Carbery farms in 2025 with the support of Climate KIC,’ he said.
Climate KIC is Europe’s largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate change, created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
GasAbate is also being installed on farms in the UK and Sweden.
Carbery Farm Zero C Project Manager Padraig Walsh said it was ‘fantastic’ to see the system in action.
‘Shinagh Estates has committed to trialling a number of different technologies as part of Farm Zero C project, and it is a great achievement for us to see more farmers being able to deploy these technologies.
‘The uptake of more slurry amendment systems highlights the commitment from farmers in West Cork to reduce emissions from the dairy sector.’
