Nitrogen emissions contribute significantly to climate change, especially in the Netherlands around Natura-2000 areas, and one of the main contributors is manure. However, not only does manure usually have high nitrogen emissions, a lot of it is in the form of ammonia, which in itself is very energy-intensive to create. Therefore MEZT developed a solution to extract ammonia from manure, reducing both nitrogen emissions and emissions from ammonia production. However, what to do with this ammonia after it is extracted was still unknown. Thus, the research question was as follows: Within the context of farms and MEZT's BPMED process, what is the best ammonia recycling process and usage, and is it financially feasible?

To answer this, first, all major potential uses for ammonia were identified, after which many uses were discarded immediately due to logical and fairly obvious reasons. Then, the remaining ammonia uses, consisting of mostly fertilizers, fuel cells, and selling it as a wholesale substance, were investigated further. For this, a scoring matrix was made based on a farmer's needs, and all technologies were scored on nine criteria (maturity/feasibility, process profitability, initial costs, reliability/maintenance, ease of use, environmental impact, safety, scalability/compactness).

From this scoring matrix, there were three clear top choices: selling as wholesale, ammonium sulphate, and enriched biochar. Since the stream to sell ammonia as a wholesale can be taken from either of the two other processes, a clear choice still had to be made between ammonium sulphate and biochar. After also investigating the effect of manure disposal costs, upcoming RENURE regulations, grant and subsidy differences, the legality of using both substances, and the combination of using it with other streams of the MEZT process, ammonium sulphate came out as the best solution.

With this in mind, the final process was designed. Here the potassium stream was also considered and included as it was part of the ammonia stream. The final process is a flexible solution of making ammonium sulphate, potassium sulphate, their (raw) mineral concentrates and aqueous ammonia. This allows for the most flexibility depending on a farmer's needs, while having minimal additional costs and the ability to 'cut out' unwanted parts/processes.

Afterwards, an economic evaluation was made. First, precise equipment and operational costs and revenues were estimated, after which it was combined with the overall MEZT solution train to form the final costing and revenues. From this it was determined that the additional parts to process ammonia was relatively cheap compared to the BPMED unit, but nonetheless the entire process was shown to be at least cost-neutral for reducing manure emissions and in many cases even lucrative for a farmer to implement.

In the end, due to the new and broad nature of this topic, it was at times difficult to make very accurate estimations (especially for the costing as data is not always available), but multiple sources/methods were always checked and the final choice and financial evaluation was deemed reliable. With this, the conclusion and recommendation was given to proceed with the development of the MEZT solution train to work towards a greener and sustainable future.

Farming has been essential for thousands of years, but recently climate change and environmental concerns began to arise, putting pressure on the agricultural industry since they are a significant contributor of nitrogen emissions, especially from livestock manure. Fortunately, there are start-ups that try to overcome the nitrogen problem by developing, producing and implementing technology that processes, recycles and extracts nutrients from livestock manure. However, although government subsidies exist to entice these firms, many still fail since they do not have a good business model and cannot capture the market. This then leads to the main research question: How is the manure processing and recycling niche in the Netherlands currently developing and how can business models help innovators in the niche succeed?

In order to answer the research question, a literature review on analytical frameworks was made, from which a framework was developed using the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and business models. The research question is then answered using this framework, desk research and semi-structured interviews. As part of the desk research, a list was made with over 100 firms in the Dutch manure processing industry, which formed the basis to select 8 interview participants from. Using data from these 8 participants, the MLP and SNM was analysed, from which patterns and links were identified. Commonalities between firms and many insights into the industry were found. Also, 5 main business models were identified over 2 general classifications: manure processors and equipment producers. Furthermore, barriers and opportunities of the niche were identified and an alternative framework and alternative business model canvas was presented for this specific niche.

The results were generally logical and clear, but it was not without its flaws. These mainly stem from this being the first paper to analyse business models for the manure processing niche, and due it being exploratory and broad in nature, meaning that sometimes the 'why' was not always fully justified. There were also relatively few interviews, further limiting how certain some of the findings are, but fortunately bias should not be significantly present. As one of the outcomes, there were quite a few recommendations for newly starting firms in the industry. The main ones being that newly starting firms should focus on a medium-large size installation capable of processing manure in a 15-20 km radius, offering a good quality product and/or service that works well, even if it may not be the newest, cheapest or most innovative method, and they should share their knowledge, collaborate and learn from each other. However, some potential areas for further research were also proposed, including investigating other types of firms in the industry, the lesser successful firms to see what not to do, markets outside the Netherlands, and also interviewing government personnel due to there being a fairly evident conflict between them and the agricultural industry. In any case, the manure processing niche looks like a promising solution to the nitrogen problem, but only time will tell where the industry will head in the future.