Greenhouse gas emissions during co-composting of cattle feedlot manure with construction and demolition (C&D) waste

Highlights

Co-composted cattle manure and construction & demolition (C&D) waste.

Studied two types of cattle manure, from typical vs. dried distillers’ grain with solubles (DDGS) diets.

C&D waste reduces CH₄ emission from cattle manure composting.

Cattle manure composting emits lower CH₄ than stockpiling.

No difference in GHG emissions between types of cattle manure.

Abstract

Manure management strategies should reflect current animal feeding practices and encourage recycling of organic waste to help protect our environment. This research investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during cattle manure stockpiling or composting with and without construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Manure was collected from cattle fed a typical finishing diet (CK manure) and from cattle on diets which included 30% dried distillers grains with solubles (DG manure). The CK and DG manures were co-composted with (4:1) C&D waste (treatments: CK_CD_, DG_CD), composted alone (treatments: CK and DG) in 13 m³ bins or stockpiled without C&D waste (treatments: CK_ST and DG_ST) for 99 days. Manure type (CK vs. DG manure) had no effect on GHG emissions over the 99 day manure composting or stockpiling. Composting with C&D waste produced similar CO₂ emissions, about double that from manure stockpiling (7.0 kgC·m⁻²). In contrast, CH₄ emissions were reduced by the inclusion of C&D waste (64 gC·m⁻² with C&D vs. 244 gC·m⁻² without C&D) while the manure stockpile emitted the greatest amount of CH₄ (464 gC·m⁻²). Additionally, only 0.48% of C was emitted in CH₄ form with C&D waste, compared to 1.68% when composting without C&D waste and 7.00% when cattle manure was stockpiled. The N₂O emissions (12.4 to 18.0 gN·m⁻²) were similar across all treatments. The lower CH₄ emissions with C&D waste are beneficial in reducing overall GHG emissions from manure composting, while reducing the amount of material entering landfills.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Livestock manure / greenhouse gas flux / straw bale compost bin / N₂O / CH₄ / CO₂

References

[1] Statistics Canada. A geographical profile of livestock manure production in Canada, 2015. available at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-002-x/2008004/tbl/manure-fumier/tbl001-man-fum-eng.htm (Last accessed March 1, 2017).

[2] Environment and Climate Change Canada. National inventory report 1990–2014: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada- Executive summary, 2016. Available online at https://ec.gc.ca/ges-ghg/default.asp?lang=En&n=662F9C56-1#es-2(Last accessed March 1, 2017).

[3] Census of Agriculture, manure and manure application methods in the year prior to the census 2011. Available at http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=0040207&pattern=manure&tabMode=dataTable&srchLan=-1&p1=1&p2=-1 (Last accessed March 1, 2017).

[4] Larney F J, Olson A F, Carcamo A A, Chang C. Physical changes during active and passive composting of beef feedlot manure in winter and summer. Bioresource Technology, 2000, 75(2): 139–148 

[5] Larney F J, Blackshaw R E. Weed seed viability in composted beef cattle feedlot manure. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2003, 32(3): 1105–1113 PMID:12809312

[6] Hao X, Chang C, Larney F J, Travis G R. Greenhouse gas emissions during cattle feedlot manure composting. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2001, 30(2): 376–386 

[7] Hao X, Larney F J, Chang C, Travis G R, Nichol C K, Bremer E. The effect of phosphogypsum on greenhouse gas emissions during cattle manure composting. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2005, 34(3): 774–781 

[8] Environmental Protection Agency. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2014. Available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-04/documents/us-ghg-inventory-2016-main-text.pdf (Accessed January 15, 2017).

[9] Hünerberg M, Beauchemin K A, McGinn S M, Okine E K, Harstad O M, McAllister T A. Effect of dried distillers’ grains with solubles on enteric methane emissions and nitrogen excretion from finishing beef cattle. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, 2013, 93(3): 373–385

[10] Hünerberg M, McGinn S M, Beauchemin K A, Okine E K, Harstad O M, McAllister T A. Effect of dried distillers grains plus solubles on enteric methane emissions and nitrogen excretion from growing beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 2013, 91(6): 2846–2857 

[11] Hao X, Benke M B, Gibb D J, Stronks A, Travis G, McAllister T A. Effects of dried distillers’ grains with solubles (wheat-based) in feedlot cattle diets on feces and manure composition. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2009, 38(4): 1709–1718 

[12] Hao X, Benke M B, Li C, Larney F J, Beauchemin K A, McAllister T A. Nitrogen transformations and greenhouse gas emissions during composting of manure from cattle fed diets containing corn dried distillers grains with soluble and condensed tannins. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 2011, 166–167: 539–549 

[13] Hünerberg M, Little S M, Beauchemin K A, McGinn S M, O’Connor D, Okine E K, Harstad O M, Kröbel R, McAllister T A. Feeding high concentrations of corn dried distillers’ grains decreases methane, but increases nitrous oxide emissions from beef cattle production. Agricultural Systems, 2014, 127: 19–27 

[14] Hao X, Benke M B, Larney F J, McAllister T A. Greenhouse gas emissions when composting manure from cattle fed wheat dried distillers’ grains with solubles. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 2011, 89(1): 105–114

[15] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. DRAFT Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas 7 Emissions and Sinks: 1994–2014. Available online at http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2016-Main-Text.pdf (Last accessed 11/10/16)

[16] Environment Canada. Municipal Solid Waste and Greenhouse Gases. 2014, Available online at http://www.ec.gc.ca/gdd-mw/default.asp?lang=En&n=6f92e701-1 (Last accessed 11/10/16)

[17] Public Works and Government Services Canada. Chapter 8- Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste. In The Environmentally Responsible Construction and Renovation Handbook. 2014, Available online at http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2013/tpsgc-pwgsc/P4-53-2001-eng.pdf (Last accessed 11/10/16).

[18] McMahon V, Garg A, Aldred D, Hobbs G, Smith R, Tothill I E. Composting and bioremediation process evaluation of wood waste materials generated from the construction and demolition industry. Chemosphere, 2008, 71(9): 1617–1628 

[19] Saludes R B, Iwabuchi K, Miyatake F, Abe Y, Honda Y. Characterization of dairy cattle manure/wallboard paper compost mixture. Bioresource Technology, 2008, 99(15): 7285–7290 

[20] Naeth M A, Wilkinson S R. Can we build better compost? Use of waste drywall to enhance plant growth on reclamation sites. Journal of Environmental Management, 2013, 129: 503–509 

[21] Hao X, Hill B, Caffyn P, Travis G, Olson A F, Larney F J, McAllister T, Alexander T. Co-composting of beef cattle feedlot manure with construction and demolition waste. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2014, 43(5): 1799–1808 

[22] SAS Institute Inc. SAS OnlineDoc® 9.2. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. 2008.

[23] Xu S, Sura S, Zaheer R, Wang G, Smith A, Cook S, Olson A F, Cessna A J, Larney F J, McAllister T A. Dissipation of antimicrobial resistance determinants in composted and stockpiled beef cattle manure. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2016, 45(2): 528–536

[24] Sura S, Degenhardt D, Cessna A J, Larney F J, Olson A F, McAllister T A. Dissipation of three veterinary antimicrobials in beef cattle feedlot manure stockpiled over winter. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2014, 43(3): 1061–1070

[25] Scheutz C, Kjeldsen P. Environmental factors influencing attenuation of methane and hydrochlorofluorocarbons in landfill cover soils. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2004, 33(1): 72–79 

[26] Venglovsky J, Sasakova N, Vargova M, Pacajova Z, Placha I, Petrovsky M, Harichova D. Evolution of temperature and chemical parameters during composting of the pig slurry solid fraction amended with natural zeolite. Bioresource Technology, 2005, 96(2): 181–189

[27] Ermolaev E, Jarvis Å, Sundberg C, Smårs S, Pell M, Jönsson H. Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from food waste composting at different temperatures. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 2015, 46: 113–119 

[28] Yamulki S. Effect of straw addition on nitrous oxide and methane emissions from stored farmyard manures. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2006, 112(2-3): 140–145 

[29] Mahimairaja S, Bolan N S, Hedley M J. Denitrification losses of N from fresh and Composted manures. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 1995, 27(9): 1223–1225

[30] Fukumoto Y, Osada T, Hanajima D, Haga K. Patterns and quantities of NH₃, N₂O and CH₄ emissions during swine manure composting without forced aeration--effect of compost pile scale. Bioresource Technology, 2003, 89(2): 109–114 

[31] Lopez-Real J, Baptista M. A preliminary comparative study of three manure composting systems and their influence on process parameters and methane emissions. Compost Science & Utilization, 1996, 4(3): 71–82 

[32] Sommer S G, Møller H D. Emission of greenhouse gases during composting of deep litter from pig production – effect of straw content. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge), 2000, 134(3): 327–335 

Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Growing Forward 2 program (Project # J-000251). Technical assistance was provided by Brett Hill, Greg Travis, Pam Caffyn and Andrew Olson.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer–Verlag Berlin Heidelberg