Gas emissions during cattle manure composting and stockpiling
Loading...
Download
Associated Records
File Licence
Editors
Date
2020-01-01
Source Title
Journal of Environmental Quality
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WILEY
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
School of BioSciences
School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences
Agriculture and Food Systems
School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences
Agriculture and Food Systems
Document Type
Journal Article
Subject Code
Citation
Bai, M., Flesch, T., Trouvé, R., Coates, T., Butterly, C., Bhatta, B., Hill, J. & Chen, D. (2020). Gas emissions during cattle manure composting and stockpiling. Journal of Environmental Quality, 49 (1), pp.228-235. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20029.
Access Status
Open Access
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
Abstract
Manure composting is a common management practice for cattle feedlots, but gaseous emissions from composting are poorly understood. The objective of this study was to quantify ammonia (NH3 ), nitrous oxide (N2 O), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), and methane (CH4 ) emissions from windrow composting (turning) and static stockpiling (nonturning) of manure at a commercial feedlot in Australia. An inverse-dispersion technique using an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometer gas sensor was deployed to measure emissions of NH3 , N2 O, CO2 , and CH4 over a 165-d study period, and 29 and 15% of the total data intervals were actually used to calculate the fluxes for the windrow and stockpile, respectively. The nitrogen (N) lost as NH3 and N2 O emissions represented 26.4 and 3.8% of the initial N in windrow, and 5.3 and 0.8% of that in the stockpile, respectively. The carbon (C) lost as CO2 and CH4 emissions represented 44 and 0.3% of the initial C in windrow, and 54.8 and 0.7% of that in the stockpile, respectively. Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the manure windrow were 2.7 times higher than those of the stockpiled manure. This work highlights the value that could be accrued if one could reduce emissions of NH3 -N and N2 O-N from composting, which would retain manure N content while reducing GHG emissions.