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Gas emissions during cattle manure composting and stockpiling
Author(s) -
Bai Mei,
Flesch Thomas,
Trouvé Raphaёl,
Coates Trevor,
Butterly Clayton,
Bhatta Bhawana,
Hill Julian,
Chen Deli
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.1002/jeq2.20029
Subject(s) - stockpile , greenhouse gas , manure , nitrous oxide , environmental science , carbon dioxide , methane , manure management , feedlot , compost , nitrogen , waste management , environmental engineering , environmental chemistry , chemistry , zoology , agronomy , engineering , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , nuclear physics , biology
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 (NH 3 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and methane (CH 4 ) 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 NH 3 , N 2 O, CO 2 , and CH 4 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 NH 3 and N 2 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 CO 2 and CH 4 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 NH 3 –N and N 2 O‐N from composting, which would retain manure N content while reducing GHG emissions.