Accelerating innovative solutions to reduce methane emissions from the cattle sector
Transcript
[Upbeat music begins]
Text on screen: Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge - $12M in prize funding!
[Text in yellow and white font appears on the screen, with a purple background. An image of two producers holding a tablet in a field with cattle in the background.]
Text on screen: Calling all
- Producers
- Ranchers
- Scientists
- Innovators
- Researchers
[An image of a producer leaning against a rake appears on screen. The screen transitions to a picture of a farmer crouching in a field. Animated circles in different colours appear around the edge of the screen.]
Text on screen: Do you have a solution to reduce methane emissions from cattle?
[An image of a veterinarian standing in a barn, next to dairy cattle and milking equipment.]
Text on screen: A practice, process or technology?
[An image of a research scientist using a microscope.]
Text on screen: Is it low-cost and scalable?
[An image of a farmer standing next to a cow.]
Text on screen: If yes, this challenge is for you!
[An image of a farmer standing next to a tractor.]
Text on screen: $12M in prize funding to be shared to develop and deploy ideas.
[An image of a grass field.]
Text on screen: Two final winners will be awarded up to $1M each!
[Two images consisting of cattle and a producer standing next to a person in a lab coat in a dairy barn, both looking at a tablet appear on the screen in animated circles.]
Text on screen: Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge – Deadline for submissions: February 07, 2024
[The screen transitions to a purple sky and colourful animated bubbles along the edge of the screen.]
Text on screen: Learn more at: impact.canada.ca/en/methanechallenge
[Upbeat music ends]
Text on screen: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada
[Government of Canada wordmark]
[End]
Why should we care about agricultural methane emissions?
Canadian cattle producers have a reputation for delivering both high-quality beef and dairy while making commitments to environmental sustainability goals. The sector is already taking steps to improve animal health, feed efficiency and pasture management—practices that contribute to reductions in methane emissions while delivering other environmental benefits. However, there are many unexplored opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially methane from the cattle sector. By working in partnership with producers, the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge will help to accelerate a suite of sustainable innovations to address methane emissions head-on. By partnering together, we can move further and faster to reduce agricultural methane emissions while spurring economic growth and innovation in our economy.
80X
more potent at warming than CO2 over a 20-year period
1/3
of Canada’s methane emissions come from the agricultural sector
86%
of agricultural methane emissions come from enteric fermentation
Methane is a potent GHG with a global warming potential that is more than 80 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 20-year period, and more than 25 times greater over a 100-year period.
Challenge details
Who can apply
- Businesses or other for-profit organizations incorporated in Canada;
- Not-for-profit organizations registered in Canada;
- Producers, producer organizations and associations within Canada;
- Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) individuals, organizations or groups of individuals located in Canada;
- Post-secondary/academic institutions located in Canada;
- Individuals or groups of individuals based in Canada;
- Collaborations between one or more of the above categories of applicants and international parties.
Prizes
- $250,000
Up to 20 semi-finalists will be selected to receive up to $250,000 each to support the development of a technology, practice or process to reduce enteric methane emissions. - $500,000
Up to 10 finalists with the top solutions will be selected to receive up to $500,000 each to test their solution in an operational environment in partnership with the solution’s end users. - $1,000,000
Up to 2 prizes of up to $1 million will be given to the innovators who best demonstrate the widespread applicability of their solutions.
Stage 1A key dates
- November 14, 2023
Call for applications - February 7, 2024
Application deadline - Summer 2024
Announcement of 20 semi-finalists
Important resources
AAFC is looking to advance innovative, scalable and economically viable practices, processes, and technologies that contribute to the net reduction of enteric methane emissions from the cattle sector.