Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Animal Manures and Technologies for Their Reduction

Abstract

Societies will inevitably have to recognise that animal excreta are not just a waste material requiring disposal, but a crucial raw material needed to boost plant production to feed a growing world population. If used appropriately, animal excreta can replace significant amounts of mineral fertilisers in areas with livestock production. Manure comprises animal excreta dissolved in water or mixed with straw, a substance made up of organic matter and used as an organic fertiliser in agriculture, where it contributes to the fertility of the soil by adding plant nutrients and organic matter (Figure 1.1). In the management chain before it is applied to soil, manure can also be used for energy production. The increasing focus on developing and using new technologies and management methods for manure handling is the consequence of both a huge increase in livestock production worldwide and specialisation in agriculture. Thus, in new production systems, traditional farms with a mixture of livestock and crop production are often replaced with landless livestock production units. These new livestock production systems may not have the capacity to recycle manure on-farm, which was a feature of many farming system in the past. The plant nutrients in manure can, if used appropriately, replace significant amounts of mineral fertilisers, and the organic matter can boost soil fertility (Text Box-Basic 1.1) and can be used for energy production. On the other hand, improper management and utilisation of manure results in loss of plant nutrients (Bouwman et al., 2012)(Figure 1.2), which are a limited resource, and this can be a risk to the global feed and food supply. For example, phosphorus (P) is a limited resource, with the mineable phosphate-rich rocks used for P fertiliser production projected to become exhausted within the next 60-130 years (Figure 1.3). In a 14-month period during 2007-2008, the global food crisis led to phosphate rock and fertiliser demand exceeding supply and prices increased by 700% (Cordell et al., 2009). This increase in cost may be mitigated by reducing P

Effects of SOP Lagoon Additive on Gaseous Emissions from Stored Liquid Dairy Manure

“…+ to nitrate (NO 3 − ) is necessary for N 2 O production [32]. Figure 4 shows CH 4 and CO 2 emission rates that were pronouncedly fluctuating along with ambient moisture; higher emission rates were measured during periods with higher moisture (i.e., during the night time).…”

Improving the Sustainability of Dairy Slurry by A Commercial Additive Treatment

“…Some of these manure management practices require a large amount of capital and high maintenance costs and necessitate specific knowledge for correct operation. Therefore, an alternative approach is the use of additives during slurry storage since they are able to affect the slurry properties by inhibiting or stimulating a particular microbiological process [14]. There are different types of additives that work on several processes simultaneously, some of which modify both the chemical composition and the biological process of the slurry, by acting on the N content.…”

Northwest U.S. Agriculture in a Changing Climate: Collaboratively Defined Research and Extension Priorities

“…Regular collection of manure prevents the significant GHG emissions that can result from anaerobic conditions developing within piles in the barn or feedlot pad (Sommer et al, 2007(Sommer et al, , 2013. However, only limited research has sought to quantify such GHG emissions in the Northwest (e.g., Brown et al, 2008).…”