Collaboration will bake the first climate-neutral bread

Danish consumers could become the first to buy climate-neutral oats and ryebread when the results of a cross-sector project arrive in supermarkets in a few years’ time. Led by SEGES Innovation and involving partners from the entire food value chain, Project Zero is combining exsisting technologies to bring climate-neutral food products from farm to table.

One of the key objectives is to demonstrate that climate neutrality and profitability can go hand in hand in food production.

The three-year project has three primary tools in focus – biochar, green ammonia and nitrification inhibitors. Biochar will be produced from oat and rye straw by pyrolysis, providing a stable carbon source when returned to the soil. Green ammonia, produced from wind and solar energy, will serve as a nitrogen fertiliser, while nitrification inhibitors will be used to suppress emissions of nitrous oxide, reducing the climate impact of fertilisation.

Project Zero is combining existing technologies to bring climate-neutral food products from farm to table

Life cycle assessments of the oats and ryebread will be conducted to verify their climate neutrality.

In addition to SEGES Innovation, the project partners are COOP, Kohberg, Valsemøllen, Aarhus University, Stiesdal SkyClean, Skovgaard Energy, BASF, Bureau Veritas, Fjordland and Innovation Centre for Organic Farming. The Green Development and Demonstration Program under the Danish Agricultural Agency has provided funding for the project, which runs until December 2025.