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The Role of Anaerobic Digestion in Reducing Dairy Farm Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Source :
- Sustainability, Vol 13, Iss 2612, p 2612 (2021), Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 5
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dairy farms are significant contributors to global warming. However, much of the published work on GHG reduction is focused on either methane (CH4) or nitrous oxide (N2O), with few, if any, considering the interactions that changes to farming systems can have on both gases. This paper takes the raw data from a year of activity on a 300-cow commercial dairy farm in Northern Ireland to more accurately quantify GHG sources by use of a simple predictive model based on IPCC methodology. Differing herd management policies are examined together with the impact of integrating anaerobic digestion (AD) into each farming system. Whilst significant success can be predicted in capturing CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2) as biogas and preventing N2O emissions, gains made can be lost in a subsequent process, negating some or all of the advantage. The process of extracting value from the captured resource is discussed in light of current farm parameters together with indications of other potential revenue streams. However, this study has concluded that despite the significant potential for GHG reduction, there is little incentive for widespread adoption of manure-based farm-scale AD in the UK at this time.
- Subjects :
- cow manure
anaerobic digestion
Resource (biology)
020209 energy
Geography, Planning and Development
TJ807-830
02 engineering and technology
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
TD194-195
Renewable energy sources
Biogas
Environmental protection
0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
GE1-350
automotive_engineering
nitrous oxide
Environmental effects of industries and plants
greenhouse gas emissions
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
business.industry
methane
Global warming
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Manure
Environmental sciences
Anaerobic digestion
climate change
Agriculture
Greenhouse gas
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Raw data
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20711050
- Volume :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Sustainability
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d145a3c205140d24f83b9eee6b1f048c