On 28 September 2023, the Royal Thai Embassy in Copenhagen together with Thailand - Nordic Countries Innovation Unit (TNIU) organized TNIU Week activities on the one-year anniversary of the official launch of TNIU to drive Thailand - Nordic innovation towards sustainability. In Denmark, there was a seminar on the topic of “Cultivating Sustainability: Tackling Emissions From Agriculture” by Mr. Niels Peter Noerring, Climate director of the Danish Agricultural & Food Council (DAFC) and Dr. Seksan Papong, Research Specialist from Technology and Informatics Institute for Sustainability (TIIS), National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand.
H.E. Mrs. Sirilak Niyom, Ambassador of Thailand to Denmark, gave an opening remarks of Denmark’s TNIU Week by stating the objectives of organizing the seminar due to the PM 2.5 problem in Thailand, especially in the northern region which mainly comes from the burning in the agricultural sector. It is therefore interesting to learn how Denmark manages agricultural waste without causing air pollution. It is hoped that the seminar will help all parties involved to come up with useful guidelines and step up efforts to seriously solve this problem.
Mr. Niels Peter Noerring, Climate director of DAFC, gave a briefing on how technology can lead the way in sustainable agriculture and how to reduce the greenhouse gas emission in the agricultural sector, for example, the use of feed additives, the use of pyrolysis to extract grass straw and agricultural waste into biomass energy through a synthesis process to produce biofuel, as well as the use of technology and genetics in the dairy farming. In addition, he also mentioned about the discussion between Denmark and Thailand on how to make Thai dairy farm more efficient and environmentally friendly since for many years Denmark exported red cows to Thailand as well as the world-class solution that Denmark exports abroad in order to achieve the target to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Dr. Seksan Papong described actions taken by several sectors in Thailand in reducing greenhouse gas emission in the agricultural sector, and Thailand’s net zero greenhouse gas emission development strategy. However, Thailand looks for collaboration since innovation, science and technology, capacity building for human resources, and technology/knowledge transfer are still needed.
In this connection, the two speakers exchanged opinions and knowledge on how to achieve the target of reducing greenhouse gas emission, carbon tax measures, carbon credits, and solution to solve the PM 2.5 problem in Thailand.