The four 0.5 cubic meter stainless
steel composters under construction
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Objectives of this research include:
- Quantifying nitrous oxide, methane and
ammonia emissions from solid hog manure, or liquid hog manure composted
with straw or woodwaste.
- Gaining more understanding of the factors
controlling emission of nitrous oxide and methane during the composting
process.
- Developing composting strategies that
minimize emissions of greenhouse gases, but also consider ammonia
emission and the value of the composted product.
Manure management
is one of the greatest limitations to environmental sustainability of
the hog industry. Environmental concerns with liquid hog manure management
include nitrate and phosphorus contamination of surface and groundwater,
ammonia emission and redeposition, and greenhouse gas emission (nitrous
oxide and methane).
Methane is emitted from the manure during storage in lagoons or concrete
tanks. Nitrous oxide is emitted from the soil following land application.
Ammonia is emitted from the barn, during manure storage and following
land application.
There is concerted effort to develop new strategies for sustainable management
of hog manure to minimize water quality concerns. Composting is one strategy
that allows the nutrients in hog manure to be recycled efficiently. We
need to be sure that we also address air quality concerns. We know that
methane emissions can be eliminated by a well designed composting process.
We need to understand more about the nitrous oxide emission, and how we
can minimize emission during the composting process.
This project is funded
by the Climate Change Action Fund, Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks. In-kind
support is provided by the University of Guelph and Transform Compost
Systems. We appreciated the excellent work of Dennis Goosen, Ted Fowler
and Mike Fowler in putting together the research composting units.
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Hogs are an important agricultural
commodity in Canada.
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