Dutch farms get 130m euro fund for manure monofermentation

Dutch minister of economic affairs Henk Kamp has granted a €130 million subsidy to Cooperative Jumpstart for the installation of 103 manure monofermentation systems at dairy farms.

As a founder of Cooperative Jumpstart, FrieslandCampina aims to reduce CO₂ emissions and reach its objective of climate-neutral growth by 2020 on the back of the deal. 

Cooperative Jumpstart currently has 68 candidates for membership. These dairy farmers are the first eligible for the subsidy and the other subsidies will be assigned in the order of registration of new prospective members.

Different types of manure monofermentation systems are currently used that correspond with the size of the farm that is part of the Cooperative Jumpstart. The membership of this independent cooperative is not limited to members of FrieslandCampina only, non-members are welcome to participate as well.

Manure monofermentation contributes to the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases in two ways: by reducing the methane volume and by generating green energy.

As well as use at dairy farms, part of the green energy generated from manure monofermentation will be used to meet the electricity demand of the FrieslandCampina production locations and offices in the Netherlands.

FrieslandCampina estimates that the 103 systems will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by over 70,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent.

The company aims to generate sufficient green energy so that it achieves climate-neutral growth in 2020. In order to be able to reach this goal, FrieslandCampina has also started initiatives in the areas of solar panels, geothermal energy and energy savings.