Greenhouse Gases Emissions from Multi-Species Animal Operations and Potential Diet Effects (original) (raw)

Transactions of the ASABE, 2014

Abstract

Abstract. Gas emissions from various animal species were measured in controlled environmental rooms at Michigan State University under various dietary strategies over the course of 17 studies, including two broiler studies, four laying hen studies, one turkey study, two swine studies, four steer studies, two heifer studies, and two dairy cow studies. The objective of this article is to summarize the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission data (CH 4 , N 2 O, and CO 2 ) from these 17 studies and the potential diet effects on GHG emissions from multi-species animal operations. The CH 4 concentrations measured by an INNOVA 1412 analyzer showed large discrepancies compared with those measured by a Thermo Scientific Model 55C CH 4 analyzer when CH 4 concentrations were lower than 10 ppm, indicating significant influence of air moisture on the INNOVA measurements of CH 4 at low concentration levels. The ratios of mean measured CH 4 emission rates over estimated values using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approaches ranged from 25% to 116% in the 17 studies. The measured N 2 O emission rates were much higher than the IPCC estimated direct N 2 O emission rates, especially for poultry. The total GHG emissions in CO 2 equivalent units (CO 2 e) were in the range from 6436 to 31839 g CO 2 e d -1 AU -1 . Poultry operations had much lower CH 4 emissions than ruminants but had higher N 2 O emissions. In poultry operations, contributions of N 2 O to total GHG (19.5% to 21.9%) were much larger than contributions of CH 4 (1.2%). In ruminant operations, contributions of CH 4 (18.5% to 44.4%) were more important than contributions of N 2 O (1.7% to 16.2%). Swine operations had relatively low emissions of both N 2 O and CH 4 ; therefore, their total GHG emissions were lowest compared with ruminants and poultry operations. Lower N diets had no significant effect on CH 4 and direct N 2 O emissions, although they resulted in lower N excretion and therefore could reduce NH 3 and indirect N 2 O emissions. Diet modification related with distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and different feed ingredients could significantly affect CH 4 emissions, which merits further investigation for both ruminant and non-ruminant species.

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