scholarly journals Sustainable Production of Sweet Sorghum as a Bioenergy Crop Using Biosolids Taking into Account Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilianna Głąb ◽  
Józef Sowiński

Currently, little data are available on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sweet sorghum production under temperate climate. Similarly, information on the effect of bio-based waste products use on the carbon (C) footprint of sorghum cultivation is rare in the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agronomical and environmental effects of the application of biosolids as a nitrogen source in the production of sweet sorghum as a bioenergy crop. The yield of sorghum biomass was assessed and the GHG emissions arising from crop production were quantified. The present study focused on whether agricultural use of sewage sludge and digestate could be considered an option to improve the C footprint of sorghum production. Biosolids—sewage sludge and digestate—could be recognized as a nutrient substitute without crop yield losses. Nitrogen application had the greatest impact on the external GHG emissions and it was responsible for 54% of these emissions. CO2eq emissions decreased by 14 and 11%, respectively, when sewage sludge and digestate were applied. This fertilization practice represents a promising strategy for low C agriculture and could be recommended to provide sustainable sorghum production as a bioenergy crop to mitigate GHG emissions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2506
Author(s):  
Klaus Mittenzwei

This paper studies the hypothesis that farm structure and the regional distribution of agricultural activity themselves have a significant impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. Applying a dynamic model for the Norwegian agricultural sector covering the entire farm population, the model results support the hypothesis. Even without mitigation options, GHG emissions decline by 1.4 per cent if agriculture becomes regionally concentrated and increase by 1.5 per cent if a policy that favors a small-scale farm structure is put in place. Adding a carbon tax to a policy that leads to regional concentration, may help to reconcile competing policy objectives. A switch from animal production to crop production, and an extensification of animal production keeps a large resource base across the country while cutting GHG emissions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márton Kiss ◽  
Károly Barta ◽  
Ágnes Gulyás ◽  
Emese Krajcsi ◽  
Andrea Farsang

<p>The recent research and policy efforts on climate change mitigation highlight the need for proper understanding of the effects of many types of land management interventions on greenhouse gas exchange processes. The complexity of carbon and nitrogen cycles, which is the case also for agricultural ecosystems, call for model-based research approaches. These can make the decision-making applications easier as well. The agricultural use of sewage sludge is widespread in many countries. There are a number of case studies about its possible effects on greenhouse gas fluxes under different climatic conditions, but there are not many experiences in relevant model-based assessments. In our contribution, the Biome-BGC MuSo (v.6.) model was used for the investigation of the main characteristics of ecosystem exchange of carbon in arable land of warm dry temperate climate in the Great Plain of Hungary. The Biome-BGC is one of the most widely used biogeochemical models, it is capable of handling different land management activities, have a multilayer soil module and enable a quite detailed ecophysiological parameterization, which make it suitable for the targeted study. The results of laboratory analyses of soil profiles of the study area were used for the parameterization (element contents, organic matter, etc.). The poster presents the first results of the integrated measurement and modelling research work.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 15301-15336 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Pelster ◽  
M. C. Rufino ◽  
T. Rosenstock ◽  
J. Mango ◽  
G. Saiz ◽  
...  

Abstract. Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. We provide here the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 plots, across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200 m a.s.l.) rising approximately 600 m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from 2.8 to 15.0 Mg CO2-C ha−1, −6.0 to 2.4 kg CH4-C ha−1 and −0.1 to 1.8 kg N2O-N ha−1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual fluxes for the GHGs measured (P = 0.46, 0.67 and 0.14 for CO2, N2O and CH4 respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤ 20 kg ha−1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P = 0.005); treed plots were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P = 0.05); while N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P = 0.59). This case study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low inputs, resulted in high (up to 67 g N2O-N kg−1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improving crop production through intensification of agricultural production (i.e. water and nutrient management) may be an important tool to mitigate the impact of African agriculture on climate change.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susantha Jayasundara ◽  
Claudia Wagner-Riddle

Jayasundara, S. and Wagner-Riddle, C. 2014. Greenhouse gas emissions intensity of Ontario milk production in 2011 compared with 1991. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 155–173. For identifying opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from milk production in Ontario, this study analyzed GHG intensity of milk [kg CO2 equivalents kg−1 fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM)] in 2011 compared with 1991 considering cow and crop productivity improvements and management changes over this period. It also assessed within-province variability in GHG intensity of milk in 2011 using county-level data related to milk production. After allocating whole-farm GHG emissions between milk and meat using an allocation factor calculated according to the International Dairy Federation equation, GHG intensity of Ontario milk was 1.03 kgCO2eq kg−1 FPCM in 2011, 22% lower than that in 1991 (1.32 kg CO2eq kg−1 FPCM). Greenhouse gas sources directly associated with dairy cattle decreased less (21 and 14% for enteric fermentation and manure management, respectively) than sources associated with feed crop production (30 to 34% for emissions related to N inputs and farm-field work). Proportions of GHG contributed from different life cycle activities did not change, with enteric fermentation contributing 46%, feed crop production 34%, manure management 18% and milking and related activities 2%. Within province, GHG intensity varied from 0.89 to 1.36 kg CO2eq kg−1 FPCM, a variation inversely correlated with milk productivity per cow (kg FPCM sold cow−1 year−1). The existence of a wide variation is strong indication for potential further reductions in GHG intensity of Ontario milk through the identification of practices associated with high efficiency.


Author(s):  
Modupe Olufemi Doyeni ◽  
Urte Stulpinaite ◽  
Ausra Baksinskaite ◽  
Skaidre Suproniene ◽  
Vita Tilvikiene

Abstract Agricultural waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if not adequately recycled and sustainably managed. A recurring agricultural waste is livestock waste that has consistently served as feedstock for biogas systems. The objective of this study was to assess the use of animal waste digestate to mitigate GHG emissions in agricultural fields. Wheat (Triticum spp. L.) was fertilized with different types of animal waste digestate (organic fertilizers) and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (inorganic fertilizer). The 170 kg N/ha presented in digestates were split fertilized at an application rate of 90 and 80 kg N/ha. Emissions of GHGs (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)) were monitored directly by a static chamber system. The soil and environmental variables were measured to determine their influence on GHG emissions. Emission peaks in N2O and CO2 after the first application of fertilizers with the emissions flattening out over the cultivating season while CH4 emission was negligible with no apparent patterns observed. Results showed individual and cumulative emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O from the digestates were relatively low and digestate fertilization could be an efficient method for reducing GHGs from agricultural sources in temperate climate conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2790
Author(s):  
Seongmin Kang ◽  
Changsang Cho ◽  
Ki-Hyun Kim ◽  
Eui-chan Jeon

In this study, the fossil carbon contents of the two facilities were analyzed using 10 or more samples for each facility from June 2013 to March 2015. In addition, the optimal measurement period was calculated from the analyzed fossil carbon contents using a statistical method. As a result of the analysis, the fossil carbon contents were found to be less than 35%, indicating that the biomass content of sewage sludge was not 100%. The fossil carbon content could be representative of using yearly period measurements value. When calculating Green house gas (GHG) emissions from waste incineration, South Korea has been calculating only Non-CO2 emissions because it regarded the CO2 emitted in GHGs from sewage sludge (SS) incineration facilities as originating from biomass. However, biomass of the sewage sludge incineration facility is not 100%, so it is necessary to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions considering the fossil carbon content. Therefore, there is a need to increase the reliability of the greenhouse gas inventory by conducting further studies (such as CO2 concentration analysis) related to the calculation of CO2 emissions for the relevant facilities (sewage sludge incinerator).


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Åkerman ◽  
A. Massagué ◽  
S. Mehier ◽  
E. Senante ◽  
I. Escaler ◽  
...  

Nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions from the wastewater sector represent the second largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the waste sector. A protocol has been developed to measure GHG from sewage sludge treatment. GHG measurements were performed on two industrial sewage sludge composting plants. Measurement campaigns showed GHG emissions range between 0.18 to 3.40 kgCH4\t dry sludge and 0.74 to 0.48 kg N2O\t dry sludge. Converted to CO2 equivalent to assess climate change impact, emission factors of CH4 range between 4.5 and 85 kg eq.CO2\t dry sludge and N2O range between 143 and 221 kg eq.CO2\t dry sludge when calculated with global warming potentials (GWP) of 25 and 298, respectively. In terms of climate change impact, N2O emissions contribute much more than CH4 because of its higher GWP. N2O is linked to the treatment of nitrogen and produced during the nitrification and denitrification biological processes. Process emissions measured on the two sites were compared with indirect emissions linked to operational energy use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3419
Author(s):  
Seongmin Kang ◽  
Sungheum Cho ◽  
Ki-Hyun Kim ◽  
Eui-chan Jeon

In this study, greenhouse gas (GHG) differences due to the application of biomass content are compared at a sewage sludge incinerator. The result of the comparison shows that the differences between the methods of GHG emission estimation based on biomass fraction analysis (sewage sludge analysis and sewage sludge flue gas analysis) were not substantial. On the other hand, the GHG emission estimated from the method in this study showed a difference of 8–9 ton CO2eq/day from the currently used method in Korea. This implies that the latter underestimates the GHG emissions because CO2 emission was not taken into account upon estimating the GHG emission from sewage sludge. Therefore, it has been determined that, from now on, emissions due to CO2 should be reflected in the estimation of GHG emission from sewage sludge.


2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-T. Liu ◽  
X.-J. Kong ◽  
G.-D. Zheng ◽  
C.-C. Chen

Sewage sludge is a considerable source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in the field of organic solid waste treatment and disposal. In this case study, total GHG emissions from sludge anaerobic digestion, including direct and indirect emissions as well as replaceable emission reduction due to biogas being reused instead of natural gas, were quantified respectively. The results indicated that no GHG generation needed to be considered during the anaerobic digestion process. Indirect emissions were mainly from electricity and fossil fuel consumption on-site and sludge transportation. Overall, the total GHG emission owing to relative subtraction from anaerobic digestion rather than landfill, and replaceable GHG reduction caused by reuse of its product of biogas, were quantified to be 0.7214 (northern China) or 0.7384 (southern China) MgCO2 MgWS−1 (wet sludge).


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