Biochar-composting substantially reduces methane and air pollutant emissions from dairy manure

Abstract Dairy manure is one of the largest sources of methane (CH 4 ) emissions and air pollution from agriculture. In a previous study, we showed that composting dairy manure with biochar substantially reduces CH 4 emissions and could help the dairy industry meet climate goals. However, it remaine...

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Published in:Environmental research letters 2024-01, Vol.19 (1), p.14081
Main Authors: Harrison, Brendan P, Moo, Zeyi, Perez-Agredano, Evelyn, Gao, Si, Zhang, Xuan, Ryals, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural pollution
Air pollution
Air quality
Ammonia
biochar
Carbon dioxide
Charcoal
compost
Composting
Composts
dairy
Dairy farms
Dairy industry
Emission analysis
Emissions
Farm buildings
Farms
Greenhouse gases
Hydrogen sulfide
manure management
Manures
Methane
methane mitigation
Nitrogen oxides
Nitrous oxide
Odors
Outdoor air quality
Pollutants
Rural areas
Rural communities
VOCs
Volatile organic compounds
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Summary:Abstract Dairy manure is one of the largest sources of methane (CH 4 ) emissions and air pollution from agriculture. In a previous study, we showed that composting dairy manure with biochar substantially reduces CH 4 emissions and could help the dairy industry meet climate goals. However, it remained unclear whether biochar could also mitigate the emission of air pollutants and odor during composting. Here, we conducted a full-scale composting study at a dairy farm and monitored the emission of greenhouse gases (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O) and air pollutants (H 2 S, VOCs, NO x , NH 3 ) from compost piles amended with or without biochar. We found that amending compost with biochar significantly reduced total CH 4 emissions by 58% (±22%) and cut H 2 S, VOCs, and NO x emissions by 67% (±24%), 61% (±19%) and 70% (±22%), respectively. We attribute this reduction in emissions to improved oxygen diffusion from the porous biochar and the adsorption of gas precursors to the biochar surface. Interestingly, NO x fluxes from the composting dairy manure were much higher than the few values reported in the literature, suggesting that dairy manure could also be a significant source of NO x emissions. We estimate that biochar-composting of dairy manure would reduce the social cost of manure emissions from this farm by over $66 000 annually. Results from this study suggest that composting dairy manure with biochar, in addition to reducing CH 4 emissions, may help to improve air quality and the health and wellbeing of rural communities, but further studies are needed to test the quantitative impacts.
ISSN:1748-9326
1748-9326
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ad1ad2