Exhibitor at Ploughing Championships showing how to spread waste concrete on land and reduce carbon dioxide

With the recent Government announcement of a target of 25% reduction in agriculture emissions by 2030 and with the cost of energy rising rapidly, the focus is well and truly on farming efficiencies and climate action initiatives and one exhibitor this week showing how to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after converting waste concrete.

wo innovative start ups from the North West of Ireland, recent alumni of the region’s New Frontiers programme, are leading the way in both farming efficiencies and decarbonisation. Maurice Bryson of Silicate and Kieran Supple of Reap Interactive are two of 60 Irish agritech exhibitors selected to showcase their new solutions in the Innovation Arena at National Ploughing Championships.

What is unique about both businesses is their game changing approach to two of the biggest issues facing not just agriculture but the global economy – sustainability and climate action.

Silicate have developed a way of turning waste concrete in to a powder similar to consistency of lime which when spread on farmland can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Silicate’s weathering agent reacts with carbonic acid in the soil to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide, forming bicarbonate and calcite. This provides farmers with a win-win solution – a product that can improve the soil pH at a low cost with a decarbonising effect. Maurice Bryson cofounded Silicate which recently was awarded €240k from Klarna ‘s sustainability fund to support their aim to remove 1 billion tonnes of Co2 from the atmosphere. They have already started spreading over 1,000 tonnes of waste concrete on 500 acres of farmland.

REAP Interactive was founded by Kieran Supple and Declan Molloy with a vision to make livestock farming more economically and environmentally efficient. Their weight monitoring system ‘BovinePlus’ is revolutionary for not just beef production but for any sector where animal weighing is important. The innovate precision platform automatically gathers and records weight and behaviour data from animals in their natural environment, up to six times per day. With access to daily information the farmer can instantly see the impact of his or her management decisions on each animal’s performance and can adjust accordingly to ensure optimum efficiency.

Anyone attending the National Ploughing Championships this year can find both companies at Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena, as it returns to one of Europe’s largest outdoor events from 20 to 22 September in Rathineska.