Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of slurry storage technologies on reducing agricultural methane emissions.

Defra has assessed slurry storage systems and their ability to reduce agricultural methane emissions, including retrofitted permeable and impermeable covers. These are detailed in the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan (2025). Available scientific evidence found that the methane reduction potential of slurry storage technologies is variable depending on the technique deployed.

Defra is currently reviewing the scientific evidence relating to other slurry storage technologies, including biogas capture.