Abstract
Bioenergy production from animal waste can be a key driver to achieving bio-economy goals. Developing a bio-economy sector could help to create opportunities for a circular system where not only people and the planet will be benefited, but it will also provide economic profitability to farmers, especially in the post-Covid period. To this end, manure production, its nutrient content, and bioenergy potential were estimated, along with their spatial distribution in the Lubelskie province, Poland. Farm-level data were processed and aggregated at the municipality level. Material balance equations were used to calculate the theoretical potential of livestock manure and bioenergy for different use scenarios: (1) Baseline (BC): direct manure application to land, which was compared against (2) Anaerobic Digestion (AD): anaerobic digestion to biogas with digestate returned to the fields (3) AD + Separation (AD + Sep): mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion, and (4) Surplus + AD: surplus manure (after application to the fields) is sent to anaerobic digestion. Manure, biogas, electricity, and thermal energy production of the AD scenario were estimated to be 7.5 Mt y−1, 378 Mm3 y−1, 907 GWe y−1, and 997.8 GWth y−1, respectively. The scenario, including mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion (AD + Sep), contributed to avoiding emissions to the largest extent (1 Mt CO2 eq), whereas AD outperformed the others in avoiding costs of fertilization. According to the estimated potential and the environmental cost-effectiveness of AD, new plants can be established that will recycle manure through bioenergy production, and, subsequently, the digestate can be applied as organic fertilizer, closing the nutrients cycle.
Highlights
IntroductionManure Treatment for Sustainable Agriculture and Livestock Sectors
Livestock sector and, in particular, manure management strategies have become highly globalized or regionalized, with manure often produced in one country or region, and transported to another for land application
Little thought is given to implications of this paradigm in times of crisis, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic [3,51]
Summary
Manure Treatment for Sustainable Agriculture and Livestock Sectors. The agriculture and livestock sectors may contribute to realizing the transition from a fossil-based to a renewable, bio-based economy. Bioenergy is renewable energy generated from biomass resources, such as animal manure, in the form of electricity, gas, fuel, etc. A bioenergy carrier that currently gains much attention is biogas. The current Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has already driven most countries to shut down their economy, which may impact the global food system in various ways, among them management and treatment of waste from livestock farms. A direct impact of this situation is that a large part of the world’s countries can be recognized in the enhancement of domestic products, which will necessitate the Energies 2020, 13, 6266; doi:10.3390/en13236266 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
