Apply machine learning to predict greenhouse gas emissions in aerobic composting and achieve emission reduction by nanomembrane covering mode.

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

Dairy production systems represent a significant source of air pollutants such as greenhouse gases (GHG), that increase global warming, and ammonia (NH3), that leads to eutrophication and acidification of natural ecosystems. Greenhouse gases and ammonia are emitted both by conventional and organic dairy systems. Several studies have already been conducted to design practices that reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from dairy systems. However, those studies did not consider options specifically applied to organic farming, as well as the multiple trade-offs occurring between these air pollutants. This article reviews agricultural practices that mitigate greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions. Those practices can be applied to the most common organic dairy systems in northern Europe such as organic mixed crop-dairy systems. The following major points of mitigation options for animal production, crop production and grasslands are discussed. Animal production: the most promising options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the livestock management level involve either the improvement of animal production through dietary changes and genetic improvement or the reduction of the replacement rate. The control of the protein intake of animals is an effective means to reduce gaseous emissions of nitrogen, but it is difficult to implement in organic dairy farming systems. Considering the manure handling chain, mitigation options involve housing, storage and application. For housing, an increase in the amounts of straw used for bedding reduces NH3 emissions, while the limitation of CH4 emissions from deep litter is achieved by avoiding anaerobic conditions. During the storage of solid manure, composting could be an efficient mitigation option, depending on its management. Addition of straw to solid manure was shown to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions from the manure heaps. During the storage of liquid manure, emptying the slurry store before late spring is an efficient mitigation option to limit both CH4 and NH3 emissions. Addition of a wooden cover also reduces these emissions more efficiently than a natural surface crust alone, but may increase N2O emissions. Anaerobic digestion is the most promising way to reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions from storage and land spreading, without increasing NH3 emissions. At the application stage, NH3 emissions may be reduced by spreading manure during the coolest part of the day, incorporating it quickly and in narrow bands. Crop production: the mitigation options for crop production focus on limiting CO2 and N2O emissions. The introduction of perennial crops or temporary leys of longer duration are promising options to limit CO2 emissions by storing carbon in plants or soils. Reduced tillage or no tillage as well as the incorporation of crop residues also favour carbon sequestration in soils, but these practices may enhance N2O emissions. Besides, the improvement of crop N-use efficiency through effective management of manure and slurry, by growing catch crops or by delaying the ploughing of leys, is of prime importance to reduce N2O emissions. Grassland: concerning grassland and grazing management, permanent conversion from arable to grassland provides high soil carbon sequestration while increasing or decreasing the livestock density seems not to be an appropriate mitigation option. From the study of the multiple interrelations between gases and between farm compartments, the following mitigation options are advised for organic mixed crop-dairy systems: (1) actions for increasing energy efficiency or fuel savings because they are beneficial in any case, (2) techniques improving efficiency of N management at field and farm levels because they affect not only N2O and NH3 emissions, but also nitrate leaching, and (3) biogas production through anaerobic digestion of manure because it is a promising efficient method to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, even if the profitability of this expensive investment needs to be carefully studied. Finally, the way the farmer implements the mitigation options, i.e. his practices, will be a determining factor in the reduction of greenhouse gas and NH3 emissions.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Dairy production systems represent a significant source of air pollutants such as greenhouse gases (GHG), that increase global warming, and ammonia (NH3), that leads to eutrophication and acidification of natural ecosystems. Greenhouse gases and ammonia are emitted both by conventional and organic dairy systems. Several studies have already been conducted to design practices that reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from dairy systems. However, those studies did not consider options specifically applied to organic farming, as well as the multiple trade-offs occurring between these air pollutants. This article reviews agricultural practices that mitigate greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions. Those practices can be applied to the most common organic dairy systems in northern Europe such as organic mixed crop-dairy systems. The following major points of mitigation options for animal production, crop production and grasslands are discussed. Animal production: the most promising options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the livestock management level involve either the improvement of animal production through dietary changes and genetic improvement or the reduction of the replacement rate. The control of the protein intake of animals is an effective means to reduce gaseous emissions of nitrogen, but it is difficult to implement in organic dairy farming systems. Considering the manure handling chain, mitigation options involve housing, storage and application. For housing, an increase in the amounts of straw used for bedding reduces NH3 emissions, while the limitation of CH4 emissions from deep litter is achieved by avoiding anaerobic conditions. During the storage of solid manure, composting could be an efficient mitigation option, depending on its management. Addition of straw to solid manure was shown to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions from the manure heaps. During the storage of liquid manure, emptying the slurry store before late spring is an efficient mitigation option to limit both CH4 and NH3 emissions. Addition of a wooden cover also reduces these emissions more efficiently than a natural surface crust alone, but may increase N2O emissions. Anaerobic digestion is the most promising way to reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions from storage and land spreading, without increasing NH3 emissions. At the application stage, NH3 emissions may be reduced by spreading manure during the coolest part of the day, incorporating it quickly and in narrow bands. Crop production: the mitigation options for crop production focus on limiting CO2 and N2O emissions. The introduction of perennial crops or temporary leys of longer duration are promising options to limit CO2 emissions by storing carbon in plants or soils. Reduced tillage or no tillage as well as the incorporation of crop residues also favour carbon sequestration in soils, but these practices may enhance N2O emissions. Besides, the improvement of crop N-use efficiency through effective management of manure and slurry, by growing catch crops or by delaying the ploughing of leys, is of prime importance to reduce N2O emissions. Grassland: concerning grassland and grazing management, permanent conversion from arable to grassland provides high soil carbon sequestration while increasing or decreasing the livestock density seems not to be an appropriate mitigation option. From the study of the multiple interrelations between gases and between farm compartments, the following mitigation options are advised for organic mixed crop-dairy systems: (1) actions for increasing energy efficiency or fuel savings because they are beneficial in any case, (2) techniques improving efficiency of N management at field and farm levels because they affect not only N2O and NH3 emissions, but also nitrate leaching, and (3) biogas production through anaerobic digestion of manure because it is a promising efficient method to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, even if the profitability of this expensive investment needs to be carefully studied. Finally, the way the farmer implements the mitigation options, i.e. his practices, will be a determining factor in the reduction of greenhouse gas and NH3 emissions.KeywordsAgricultureGreenhouse gasAmmoniaAbatementMixed crop-dairy systemsOrganicLivestockManureGrasslandCarbon storageSoil carbon sequestration

Responses of CH4, N2O, and NH3 emissions to different slurry pH values of 5.5–10.0: Characteristics and mechanisms

Ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are substantial contributors to C and N loss in composting. Lignite can increase N retention by absorbing N H 4 + and NH3. However, the effects of co-composting on NH3 and GHG emissions in view of closing nutrient cycle are still poorly investigated. In the study, poultry litter was composted without (CK) or with lignite (T1) or dewatered lignite (T2), and their respective composts N H 4 + Com_CK, Com_T1, and Com_T2) were tested in a soil incubation to assess NH3 and GHG emission during composting and following soil utilization. The cumulative NH3 flux in T1 and T2 were reduced by 39.3% and 50.2%, while N2O emissions were increased by 7.5 and 15.6 times, relative to CK. The total GHG emission in T2 was reduced by 16.8% compared to CK. Lignite addition significantly increased nitrification and denitrification as evidenced by the increased abundances of amoA, amoB, nirK, and nirS. The increased reduction on NH3 emission by dewatered lignite could be attributed to reduced pH and enhanced cation exchangeable capacity than lignite. The increased N2O was related to enhanced nitrification and denitrification. In the soil incubation experiment, compost addition reduced NH3 emission by 72%∼83% while increased emissions of CO2 and N2O by 306%∼740% and 208%∼454%, compared with urea. Com_T2 strongly reduced NH3 and GHG emissions after soil amendment compared to Com_CK. Overall, dewatered lignite, as an effective additive, exhibits great potential to simultaneously mitigate NH3 and GHG secondary pollution during composting and subsequent utilization of manure composts.

Several solutions are today proposed to farmers to minimize ammonia (NH3) emissions during storage. In the present study, special attention was given to slurry acidification and slurry crust enhancement and our objective was to assess the effect of slurry bio-acidification using sugar and cheese whey as an alternative to sulphuric acid, and the potential of rice bran as crust enhancer on NH3 and greenhouse gases emissions during storage. Both the cheese whey and the rice bran are materials, available in large amounts, with low commercial value in some EU regions as Portugal and its use, at farm scale, will be a win-win situation. Sugar is also a good alternative to acid attending its relatively low value. A laboratory experiment was performed for 2 months with five treatments: non-treated cattle slurry (CTRL), slurry treated with sulphuric acid (ACID), slurry treated with sugar (SUGAR), slurry treated with cheese whey (WHEY) and rice bran applied on the slurry surface (RICE). The SUGAR treatment led to a reduction of NH3 emissions by 45% relative to CTRL while WHEY and RICE resulted in a reduction of 68% and 25%, respectively. Nevertheless, this effect of SUGAR and WHEY was shorter than in ACID, since NH3 emissions started to be observed in those 2 treatments after 31 and 35 days of storage, respectively. Nitrous oxide emissions remained close to zero in ACID and SUGAR. RICE led to the highest emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) releasing almost 5% of carbon present in the initial mixture (slurry + rice bran) and presented the highest methane emissions. The ACID and SUGAR led to a significant decrease of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Our results indicate that bio-acidification using a source of sugar could be a good alternative to H2SO4 to reduce simultaneously NH3 and GHG emissions during storage.

As addressed by many studies, greenhouse gas has a significant impact on the different aspects of life and more importantly on the whole environment. The excessive emission of green gas leads to climate change which is regarded as one of the most significant challenges of 21 century. Hence, in this regard, this paper has addressed the changing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 18 countries of the MENA region. For this purpose, ten different scenarios of this disease's future status and its restrictions were considered in an input–output modelling framework. The empirical results indicated that the emission of greenhouse gas is reduced under all scenarios. However, some countries experience more reduction due to the restriction because of COVID-19 like Syria, Iran, Yemen and Lebenon. Based on the ninth scenario, Iran and Syria have the highest reduction in emission of greenhouse gas by 13.1 and 13.8 per cent, and based on the tenth scenario, Lebenan and Syria will experience the highest reduction in emission by about 13.1 and 17.9 per cent. The results show that according to scenario 10 (explosive intensification of the pandemic without the wave subsiding over a while) and scenario 9 (the pandemic worsens step by step without subsiding over a while), Syria and Iran have the highest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. According to scenario 1 (rapid and complete control of disease), Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait have the lowest reduction in GHG emissions. Besides, the study draws several fruitful implications regarding environmental concerns as sectoral analysis such as Hotels and Restaurants, Retail Trade, Fishing, Wholesale Trade, and Transport sectors. Moreover, policymakers should be alert that notwithstanding all limitations, Private Households and Public Administration develop their emissions during the pandemic since quarantine intensifies the supply of these services. Surprisingly, none of the policy restrictions have a significant impact on GHG emissions from Education, Health, and Other Services, Petroleum,Chemical, and Non-Metallic Mineral Products, Textiles and Wearing Apparel, and Re-export & Re-import, demonstrating the robust and established nature of these sectors' activities. To control the emissions of the quarantine-neutral sectors, long- and mid-term structural and environmental policies should be considered. The researchers are guided by the novel implications in terms of how various industries might reduce emissions in different ways.Graphical abstractSupplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-021-02018-3.

Ammonia and greenhouse gases emission from impermeable covered storage and land application of cattle slurry to bare soil

Hydrogen peroxide-aged biochar mitigating greenhouse gas emissions during co-composting of swine manure with rice bran.

Swine production is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study evaluated the impact of including purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) and probiotics (Lactobacillus plantarum) in pig diets to mitigate GHG emissions, specifically carbon dioxide (CO₂) and ammonia (NH₃). Thirty-six male pigs were used, distributed into nine dietary treatments combining different proportions of commercial feed, purple sweet potato, and Lactobacillus. CO₂ and NH₃ emissions were measured over 49 days using a gas detector. The results showed that treatments including purple sweet potato and probiotics significantly reduced CO₂ and NH₃ emissions. The most effective treatment combined 40% purple sweet potato with 40 ml of Lactobacillus, achieving a significant reduction in CO₂ (1270 ppm) and NH₃ (24.5 ppm) emissions. The Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon statistical tests confirmed significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) between treatments for both variables. In conclusion, the addition of purple sweet potato and probiotics to pig diets is a promising strategy for reducing GHG emissions, contributing to environmental sustainability without compromising the productive performance of pigs.

Mongolia’s faces substantial challenges to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions due to reliance on coal to meet electricity, heat and other energy demand and large livestock emissions. Despite this, Mongolia has committed to reduce GHG emissions by 22.7% in 2030 compared to a baseline scenario. Greenhouse gas mitigation assessments for Mongolia have focussed on actions to achieve emission reductions by 2030, but not on the potential for further reductions over the longer-term. This study addresses this gap through the development of long-term (2050) GHG emission pathways for Mongolia. These pathways aim to inform what level of GHG reduction targets Mongolia could commit to for the period after its current target expires. Greenhouse gas emissions are quantified for historic years (2010–2019) for all major GHG emitting sectors, and projected to 2050 based on the population and economic forecasts. Finally, mitigation scenarios modelling implementation of 49 specific mitigation measures are developed, to quantify their emission reduction potential. Without mitigation, GHG emissions were estimated to increase by 67% and 139% in 2030 and 2050, respectively, compared to 2019 levels (39 million tonnes CO2-eq emissions). Implementation of the 49 mitigation measures could reduce GHG emissions by 40% in 2050 compared to the baseline. Therefore, post-2030, Mongolia could increase its climate change mitigation ambition. Renewable Electricity generation, and energy efficiency were the measures that could achieve the majority of these additional emission reductions. However, there remains a substantial gap between the emission reduction potential of technically feasible measures currently being considered in Mongolia’s climate change mitigation planning, and full decarbonisation.

Animal manure contributes considerably to ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Europe. Various treatment technologies have been implemented to reduce emissions and to facilitate its use as fertilizer, but a systematic analysis of these technologies has not yet been carried out. This study presents an integrated assessment of manure treatment effects on NH3, nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions from manure management chains in all countries of EU-27 in 2010 using the MITERRA-Europe model. Effects of implementing 12 treatment technologies on emissions and nutrient recovery were further explored through scenario analyses; the level of implementation corresponded to levels currently achieved by forerunner countries. Manure treatment decreased GHG emissions from manures in EU countries by 0-17% in 2010, with the largest contribution from anaerobic digestion; the effects on NH3 emissions were small. Scenario analyses indicate that increased use of slurry acidification, thermal drying, incineration and pyrolysis may decrease NH3 (9-11%) and GHG (11-18%) emissions; nitrification-denitrification treatment decreased NH3 emissions, but increased GHG emissions. The nitrogen recovery (% of nitrogen excreted in housings that is applied to land) would increase from a mean of 57% (in 2010) to 61% by acidification, but would decrease to 48% by incineration. Promoting optimized manure treatment technologies can greatly contribute to achieving NH3 and GHG emission targets set in EU environmental policies.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of livestock manure is better known for the economic advantage derived from biogas for energy rather than for its environmental benefits. Demonstration of relevant environmental benefits from AD of manure would thus enhance adoption of this technology on animal feeding operations (AFOs). The effect of AD of dairy manure on the emissions of ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gases (GHG) during manure storage and also in subsequent land applications are presented in this paper. Measurements of GHG emissions from both AD and non-AD manure storages were made using a floating chamber and a photoacoustic gas analyzer (INNOVA model 1412). Emissions of GHG were determined using the standard closed chamber method from field plots applied with AD and non-AD manure. Data obtained indicate significantly higher fluxes of GHG (CO2, N2O, and CH4) from land applied with non-AD manure than from land applied with AD manure. In addition, injection of non-AD manure seemed to further increase CH4 flux from the soil. More than 50% emissions of CO2 and CH4 were observed during the first 3 days after manure was land applied. Emissions of GHG from the anaerobic lagoon holding AD manure, during all four seasons, were significantly lower than from the anaerobic lagoon with non-AD manure. In contrast, the reverse was observed with NH3 emissions. This data demonstrate some environmental benefits for AD of dairy manure prior to its storage and field application but also some potential increased emission of NH3 during storage.

Greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from digested and separated dairy manure during storage and after land application