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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils amended with digestate derived from anaerobic treatment of food waste
Author(s) -
Pezzolla Daniela,
Bol Roland,
Gigliotti Giovanni,
Sawamoto Takuji,
López Aranzazu Louro,
Cardenas Laura,
Chadwick David
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.6362
Subject(s) - digestate , greenhouse gas , chemistry , organic matter , fertilizer , food waste , soil water , environmental science , anaerobic digestion , agronomy , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , waste management , methane , soil science , ecology , organic chemistry , engineering , biology
RATIONALE The application of organic materials to agricultural lands is considered good practice to improve soil organic matter content and recycle nutrients for crop growth. The anaerobic treatment of food waste may have environmental benefits, particularly with regard to greenhouse gases (GHGs) mitigation and enhancement of carbon sequestration. METHODS This work presents the results from a field experiment to evaluate CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from grassland amended with digestate produced by anaerobic fermentation of food waste. Experimental plots, located close to Rothamsted Research‐North Wyke, were established using a randomized block design with three replicates and two treatments, added digestate (DG) and the unamended control (CNT). The digestate was applied on three occasions at an equivalent rate of 80 kg N ha –1 . RESULTS The application of digestate led to an increase in CO 2 emissions, especially after the 2 nd application (74.1 kg CO 2 ‐C ha –1 day –1 ) compared with the CNT soil (36.4 kg CO 2 ‐C ha –1 day –1 ), whereas DG treatment did not affect the overall CH 4 and N 2 O emissions. The total grass yield harvested on a dry matter basis was greater in the DG treated plots (0.565 kg m –2 ) than in the CNT plots (0.282 kg m –2 ), as was the 15 N content in the harvest collected from the DG plots. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the digestate can be applied to agricultural land as a fertilizer to grow crops. Our study was conducted in an exceptionally dry growing season, so conclusions about the effect of digestate on GHG emissions should take this into account, and further field trials conducted under more typical growing seasons are needed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.