Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Life Cycle Assessment of Livestock Production Systems

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2021) | Viewed by 15086

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Japan
Interests: livestock production; greenhouse gas emission; life cycle assessment (LCA); sustainability; low-protein diet; feed uses of food residues

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Guest Editor
Azabu University, Kanagawa, Japan
Interests: enteric methane emission; greenhouse gas; dairy farming; beef cattle production; cattle nutrition

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Guest Editor
Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Japan
Interests: greenhouse gas emission; manure management; composting; wastewater treatment; low-protein diet

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Livestock production is an important component of the global food supply and the rural economy; however, it has been reported that livestock production systems are major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), worldwide. Livestock production accounts for 14% of the global GHG emissions and for more than one half of global anthropogenic ammonia emissions, which contribute to acidification. Concerted efforts are thus needed to reduce these emissions. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is suitable for environmental evaluations and can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of livestock production for the purpose of mitigating GHG emissions and other environmental impacts.

In this Special Issue, we aim to publish original research articles, review papers, and opinion pieces on GHG emissions from, and environmental impacts of, livestock production systems. Topics of interest to this Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

  • measurements and/or mitigation of GHGs and/or other harmful gases from livestock production;
  • mitigation of enteric CH4 emissions from ruminants; and
  • evaluation of livestock production systems by LCA for the purpose of identifying mitigation options.

Dr. Akifumi Ogino
Dr. Fuminori Terada
Dr. Takashi Osada
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • greenhouse gas emission
  • life cycle assessment (LCA)
  • sustainability
  • environmental impacts
  • methane (CH4)
  • nitrous oxide (N2O)
  • ammonia (NH3)
  • livestock production
  • dairy farming
  • beef cattle production
  • pig farming
  • layer chicken
  • broiler chicken
  • feed/forage production
  • grassland
  • manure management
  • biogas

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 974 KiB  
Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Broiler Production Systems: Effects of Low-Protein Diet and Litter Incineration
by Akifumi Ogino, Kazato Oishi, Akira Setoguchi and Takashi Osada
Agriculture 2021, 11(10), 921; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100921 - 25 Sep 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5584
Abstract
We conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare environmental impacts of conventional (CNV) broiler chicken production in Japan with those of three mitigation options: a low-protein diet supplemented with more crystalline amino acids (LP), incineration of broiler litter (IC), and their combination [...] Read more.
We conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare environmental impacts of conventional (CNV) broiler chicken production in Japan with those of three mitigation options: a low-protein diet supplemented with more crystalline amino acids (LP), incineration of broiler litter (IC), and their combination (LP + IC). Feed production, feed transport, broiler housing, and manure management were included in the LCA, with 1 kg of liveweight of broiler chicken as the functional unit. The CNV environmental impacts were: climate change, 1.86 kg CO2e; acidification, 52.6 g SO2e; eutrophication, 18.3 g PO4e; energy consumption, 18.8 MJ. Since broiler manure management has a lower N2O emission factor, the LP diet’s effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were limited. Because a large amount of ammonia is emitted from broiler-litter composting and the LP diet reduced nitrogen excretion and consequent NH3 emission, the LP showed lower acidification and eutrophication potentials than CNV. The IC system reduced fuel consumption by utilizing the generated heat for broiler-house heating and thus had lower GHG emissions and energy consumption; it reduced ammonia emission from the manure-management process by incineration and thus had lower acidification and eutrophication potentials even when including NOX generation by litter incineration. The LP + IC system had lower environmental impacts than CNV: for climate change (by 16%), acidification (48%), eutrophication (24%), and energy consumption (15%). Mitigation opportunities for broiler chickens remain, and broiler production systems with mitigation options help produce chickens more sustainably. Full article
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19 pages, 3014 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Diet and Farm Management on N2O Emissions from Dairy Farms Estimated from Farm Data
by Simona Menardo, Giacomo Lanza and Werner Berg
Agriculture 2021, 11(7), 654; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11070654 - 11 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2905
Abstract
The N2O emissions of 21 dairy farms in Germany were evaluated to determine the feasibility of an estimation of emissions from farm data and the effects of the farm management, along with possible mitigation strategies. Emissions due to the application of [...] Read more.
The N2O emissions of 21 dairy farms in Germany were evaluated to determine the feasibility of an estimation of emissions from farm data and the effects of the farm management, along with possible mitigation strategies. Emissions due to the application of different fertilisers, manure storage and grazing were calculated based on equations from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) and German emission inventory. The dependence of the N2O emissions on fertiliser type and quantity, cultivated crops and diet composition was assessed via correlation analysis and linear regression. The N2O emissions ranged between 0.11 and 0.29 kg CO2eq per kilogram energy-corrected milk, with on average 60% resulting from fertilisation and less than 30% from fertiliser storage and field applications. The total emissions had a high dependence on the diet composition; in particular, on the grass/maize ratio and the protein content of the animal diet, as well as from the manure management. A linear model for the prediction of the N2O emissions based on the diet composition and the fertilisation reached a predictive power of R2 = 0.89. As a possible mitigation strategy, the substitution of slurry for solid manure would reduce N2O emissions by 40%. Feeding cows maize-based diets instead of grass-based diets could reduce them by 14%. Full article
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18 pages, 3461 KiB  
Article
Enteric Methane Emissions of Dairy Cattle Considering Breed Composition, Pasture Management, Housing Conditions and Feeding Characteristics along a Rural-Urban Gradient in a Rising Megacity
by Ana Pinto, Tong Yin, Marion Reichenbach, Raghavendra Bhatta, Pradeep Kumar Malik, Eva Schlecht and Sven König
Agriculture 2020, 10(12), 628; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10120628 - 13 Dec 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5044
Abstract
Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming and in particular enteric methane (CH4) from ruminants are criticized for being one of the main contributors to climate change. Different breeding, feeding and management strategies are tested to decrease these emissions, but a status [...] Read more.
Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming and in particular enteric methane (CH4) from ruminants are criticized for being one of the main contributors to climate change. Different breeding, feeding and management strategies are tested to decrease these emissions, but a status quo analysis is also relevant to implement such measures. The present study aimed to analyze the concentration of CH4 in air exhaled by dairy cows along a rural-urban gradient of Bangalore, India. Urban, mixed and rural areas were defined based on a survey stratification index (SSI) comprising build-up density and distance to the city center. Using a laser methane detector (LMD), CH4 concentration was determined in 2-min spot measurements of exhaled air of 448 cows at three equally spaced visits between June 2017 and April 2018. Mean, maximum and CH4 concentration per duration of the overall measurement, eructation and respiration bouts were calculated. For the overall mean and respiration bouts, CH4 concentration was higher in cows from urban areas, which had also higher milk yield than cows from mixed and rural areas. Although no differences were found in terms of the intake level of fibrous diet components, the type of measurement location (indoor, half-outdoor or outdoor) and pasture access had an impact on CH4 concentration. To our knowledge, this is the first study using the LMD on-farm and in an urbanizing environment. The LMD measurements show variations in enteric CH4 emissions along the rural-urban gradient of Bangalore that reflect differences in dairy husbandry systems governed by the social-ecological context. Full article
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