The slurry plants in Catalonia decree a closure due to the price of gas

In these facilities, the leftover slurry from the pig farms is dried with gas so that it occupies less space and it is easier to move it and apply it as fertilizer.

The rise in gas prices causes the closure of slurry plants in Catalonia.

The six slurry treatment plants in Catalonia have closed due to the increase in the price of gas, which is used to dry this biological waste that arrives from pig farms. As explained by the head of the pig sector of Unió de Pagesos (UP), Rossend Saltiveri, the closure of the plants has been successively over the months until, now, the six plants have stopped their activity because they cannot assume the cost of the gas bill.

Specifically, in these plants what is done is to dry the slurry that is left over from the pig farms with gas so that they occupy less space and it is easier to move them and apply them as fertilizer. Now, farmers face a new challenge, because when they cannot accumulate and reuse this organic matter on their own farms, they have to move it to other farms where there is no surplus and which, in most cases, are several kilometers away.

In this sense, Saltiveri assures that this increase in costs for farmers ranges between 20% and 30%, a fact that, in addition, adds to the difficult situation that the sector is going through due to the increase in the price of raw materials and the price of energy. As UP already advanced yesterday in a press conference, they demand that the Government improve the conditions of the gas bill for these plants, which would be one of the solutions that could lead to their reopening. The plants closed in Catalonia are those of Alcarràs, Miralcamp, two in Juneda, Esquirol and Les Masies de Voltregà.

Spain, among the countries that ask for a cap on gas

Fifteen countries, including Spain, which represent 64.35% of the population of the European Union, sent a letter to the European Commission on Tuesday to put on the table “as soon as possible” a proposal to limit the price to all imports of natural gas, and not only to purchases of Russian gas. “The cap should apply to all wholesale natural gas transactions and not be limited to imports from specific jurisdictions,” the letter said.

Source: La Información