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Seasonal Variation in Methane Emission from Stored Slurry and Solid Manures
Author(s) -
Husted Søren
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.2134/jeq1994.00472425002300030026x
Subject(s) - slurry , manure , methane , methanogenesis , zoology , beef cattle , environmental science , agronomy , animal waste , manure management , chemistry , environmental chemistry , environmental engineering , waste management , biology , organic chemistry , engineering
Methane (CH 4 ) is an important greenhouse gas and recent inventories have suggested that livestock manure makes a significant contribution to global CH 4 emissions. The emission of CH 4 from stored pig slurry, cattle slurry, pig solid manure, and cattle solid manure was followed during a 1‐yr period. Methane emission was determined by dynamic chambers. Emission rates followed a In‐normal distribution for all four manures, indicating large spatial and seasonal variations. Monthly geometric means for pig slurry, cattle slurry, pig solid manure, and cattle solid manure varied from 0.4 to 35.8, 0.0 to 34.5, 0.4 to 142.1, and 0.1 to 42.7 g CH 4 m −3 d −1 , respectively. For slurries CH 4 emission rates increased significantly with storage temperatures, the Q 10 value ranging from 3.4 to 5.7 depending on slurry type. The presence of a natural surface crust reduced CH 4 emission from slurry by a factor of 11 to 12. Surface crust effects declined with increasing slurry temperature. Solid manures stored in dungheaps showed significant heat production. Pig solid manure temperatures were maintained at 30 to 60 °C throughout most of the year, while cattle solid manure temperatures were close to ambient levels until late spring, when heat production was initiated. Methanogenesis in solid manure also increased with increasing temperatures. For pig solid manure, CH 4 emission rates peaked at 35 to 45 °C. No distinct temperature optimum could be detected for cattle solid manure, however, temperatures rarely exceeded 45 °C. The Q 10 values for dungheaps ranged from 2.7 to 10.3 depending on manure type and Q 10 temperature interval. Annual CH 4 emissions from pig slurry, cattle slurry, pig solid manure, and cattle solid manure were estimated at 8.9, 15.5, 27.3, and 5.3 kg animal −1 yr −1 , respectively. The annual emission of CH 4 from stored animal manure in Denmark is estimated at 28 000 Mg yr −1 .