Estimation of methane and nitrous oxide emission from
animal production sector in Taiwan during 1990–2000
Shang-Shyng Yang
a,b,*, Chung-Ming Liu
c, Yen-Lan Liu
ca
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
b
Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan
c
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Abstract
To investigate the greenhouse gases emissions from the feeding and waste management of livestock and poultry,
methane and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated from the local measurement and IPCC guidelines during 1990–
2000 in Taiwan. Hog is the major livestock and is followed by goat and cattle, while chicken is the major poultry and is
followed by duck and geese. Methane emission from enteric fermentation of livestock was 30.9 Gg in 1990, increased to
39.3 Gg in 1996, and then decreased gradually to 34.9 Gg in 2000. Methane emission from the waste management was
48.5 Gg in 1990, reached the peak value of 60.7 Gg in 1996, and then declined to 43.3 Gg in 2000. In the case of poultry,
annual methane emission from enteric fermentation and waste management was 30.6–44.1 ton, and 8.7–13.2 Gg,
re-spectively. Nitrous oxide emission from waste management of livestock was 0.78 ton in 1990, increased to 0.86 ton in
1996, and then decreased to 0.65 ton in 2000. Nitrous oxide emission from waste management of poultry was higher
than that of livestock with 1.11 ton in 1990, 1.68 ton in 1999, and 1.65 ton in 2000. There is an urgent need to reduce
methane emission from enteric fermentation and recover methane from anaerobic waste treatment for energy in
live-stock and poultry feeding in Taiwan.
Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Animal feeding; Enteric fermentation; Methane; Nitrous oxide; Waste management
1. Introduction
Global warming induced by increasing greenhouse
gases concentrations in the atmosphere is a matter
of great environmental concern. Carbon dioxide is the
principal greenhouse gas, followed by methane and
nitrous oxide in that order. Methane is mostly
pro-duced biologically by methanogenic archaea in
anaero-bic environments. Flooded paddy, enteric fermentation,
animal waste management, agricultural waste burning,
savannah burning, landfill, sewage treatment, natural
wetland and sediment are considered the major sources
of methane emissions (Cicerone and Oremland, 1988;
Khalil et al., 1991; Lindau et al., 1993; Liu et al., 1996;
Yang, 1998; Yang and Chang, 2001; Yang et al., in press).
Methane is a natural by-product of animal digestion
through a process referred to as enteric fermentation.
Ruminant animals such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and
goat are the high sources of methane, whereas the
non-ruminant animals such as hog, poultry and horse have
much smaller methane emission per animal. The amount
of methane produced depends on the type of animal,
the amount and the kind of feed it consumes (Kinsman
et al., 1995; Lee et al., 2001). In addition, methane
emission from animal waste management also
contri-buted to high amount. The anaerobic waste disposal
system and the large population of hog explain the large
www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere
*
Corresponding author. Address: Department of Agricul-tural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Tel.: +886-2-2362-1519; fax: +886-2-2367-9827.
E-mail address:ssyang@ccms.ntu.edu.tw(S.-S. Yang).
0045-6535/03/$ - see front matterÓ 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00473-9
amount of methane release (Francisco, 1997; Yang,
1997).
The release of nitrous oxide is increasing in recent
years due to intensive agricultural practices and the
application of nitrogen fertilizer (Isermann, 1994; Yang
et al., in press). Nitrous oxide emission in this section
pertains to those releases before the animal wastes are
added to soil as fertilizer. These include emission from
waste management system other than pasture range and
paddock. Nitrous oxide emission is calculated based on
animal population, amount of nitrogen excretion,
sys-tem of waste management and emission factor.
Estimates on greenhouse gas emission from animal
feeding and waste management are based on
country-specific emission factors, and when the local data were
unavailable, the emission factors recommended by IPCC
(1997) guidelines were used.
2. Methodology and data
2.1. Livestock andpoultry production
The livestock and poultry productions in Taiwan
from 1990 to 2000 are adapted from the Taiwan
Agri-culture Yearbook from 1991 to 2001 (Department
of Agriculture and Forest, 1991–2000; COA/ROC,
2001).
2.2. Animal waste production
The amount of waste production of each head
de-pends on variety, feed composition, feeding method,
growth stage and management. Therefore, the value is
counted by the average of each species. Each head of 60
kg hog daily secretes 2.0 kg feces and 3.75 kg urine with
free or fix-feeding methods. Each head daily secretes
27.5 kg feces and 13.5 kg urine for 500 kg body weight of
cattle, 0.75 kg feces and 1.75 kg urine for 35 kg body
weight of goat. The poultry daily secretes 0.14–0.15 kg
waste from chicken, 0.16 kg waste from duck, 0.32 kg
waste from geese and 0.33 kg waste from turkey (Yang
et al., 1991, 1996, 2003).
2.3. Methane emission factor
Methane emission factors of enteric fermentation
and waste management of livestock and poultry are
listed in Table 1. Methane emission factors of enteric
fermentations were measured in broiler and colorful
broiler by Huang and Wang (2000) and in Holstein by
Lee et al. (2000). Methane emission factor in hog waste
management was calculated by Lin et al. (1989). Other
factors were as recommended by IPCC (1997)
guide-lines.
2.4. Nitrous oxide emission factor
Nitrous oxide emission factors of enteric
fermenta-tion and waste management of livestock and poultry are
also listed in Table 1. All of them were adapted from the
IPCC (1997) guidelines. Waste management includes
anaerobic lagoon, anaerobic digestion, daily spread,
solid storage and composting, open field feeding and
others.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Methane emission from enteric fermentation
Domestic animal feeding increased sharply in the
past 20 years due to policy encouragement, feeding
technology improvement and market requirement. Hog,
the major domestic livestock in Taiwan, accounted for
93.9% of total livestock feeding in 1990 and 93.3% in
2000. Goat and cattle followed hog. Chicken accounted
for 84.6% of total poultry feeding in 1990 and up to
91.2% in 2000. Heads of livestock on farms at the
year-end and heads of slaughtered poultry are presented in
Table 2. Hog heads reached the maximum of 10 698 366
in 1996, decreased dramatically to 7 966 887 in 1997
be-cause of the foot and mouth disease infection, and then
increased slightly after 1999. Heads of buffalo, yellow
and hybrid cattle, rabbit, deer and turkey decreased
gradually from 1990 to 2000, whereas heads of Holstein,
goat, milk goat, chicken and geese increased gradually
due to domestic demand.
Methane emission factor of enteric fermentation
measured in local and recommended by IPCC guidelines
is shown in Table 1. In Taiwan, methane emission factor
of enteric fermentation was 8.482
10
5kg/head in each
life cycle of colorful broiler and 1.587
10
5kg/head in
each life cycle of broiler (Huang and Wang, 2000). Lee
et al. (2000) indicated that annual methane emission
from enteric fermentation in Holstein lactation cow
(body weight 611
56 kg) depended on feed, 137.6 kg
with corn silage, 151.5 kg with Napier grass silage and
161.3 kg with Pangola grass haylage; annual carbon
dioxide emissions from enteric fermentation were
3760, 5366 and 4051 kg, respectively. However, annual
methane emissions from enteric fermentation was 91.3
kg with corn silage, 69.0 kg with Napier grass silage and
88.7 kg with Pangola grass haylage in Holstein dry cow
(average body weight 425 kg) and were 61.0, 59.9 and
70.5 kg in growing Heifer (average body weight 275 kg),
respectively. Annual carbon dioxide emissions was 3186
kg with corn silage, 2562 kg with Napier grass silage and
2686 kg with Pangola grass haylage in Holstein dry cow
and 1902, 1781 and 2051 kg in growing Heifer,
respec-tively (Lee et al., 2001). The average of annual methane
emission from enteric fermentation in Holstein lactation
cow, Holstein dry cow and growing Heifer with three
feeds was 150.1, 116.6 and 63.8 kg/head, respectively.
These values are 2.68, 2.08 and 1.14 times higher than
that recommended by IPCC (1997) guidelines. The
ave-rage of annual carbon dioxide emission from enteric
fermentation in Holstein lactation cow, Holstein dry
cow and growing Heifer with three feeds was 4392, 2811
and 1911 kg, respectively. Annual enteric fermentations
of methane and nitrous oxide of milk goat, rabbit, deer
and horse were calculated from goat and adjusted by
the body weight, while annual enteric fermentations of
methane and nitrous oxide of layer, duck, geese and
turkey were estimated from the average value in broiler
and colorful broiler with local measurement and
ad-justed by the body weight.
Annual heads of livestock were calculated from the
heads on farms at the year-end and annual heads of
poultry were counted from the heads of slaughter.
Meth-ane emission from the enteric fermentation of livestock
and poultry in Taiwan is illustrated in Table 3. It was
calculated from the heads of livestock and poultry times
the emission factors. It was found that methane emission
from enteric fermentation of animal feeding increased
from 30.83 Gg in 1990 to 39.23 Gg in 1996, and then
decreased to 34.88 Gg in 2000. Holstein is the largest
source of methane emission, contributing 44.0% of the
total enteric fermentation in 1990 and gradually up to
58.5% in 2000. Hog contributed 41.7% of the total
en-teric fermentation in 1990 and 32.2% in 2000. The heads
of poultry are numerous, but their body weights are low.
In addition, poultry is non-ruminant and
non-herbivo-rous. Therefore, methane emission from enteric
fer-mentation of poultry was below 1% of the total methane
emission from animal feeding sector.
3.2. Methane emission from waste management
Feces and urine are separated in livestock, while they
are mixed together in poultry. The amount of waste
production of each head depends on variety,
feed-ing method, feed formulation, growth stage, managfeed-ing
method and body weight (Hong, 1986a,b; Yang et al.,
1991, 1996, 2003). Yang (1994) and Wong et al. (1999)
calculated feces production of livestock and poultry in
Taiwan, which are presented in Table 4. Annual animal
solid waste was 12.5 million ton in 1990, reached a
Table 1
Emission coefficient of greenhouse gases in enteric fermentation and waste management Item CH4emission coefficient
(kg/head/year)
N2O emission coefficient (mg/head/year)
Enteric fermentation Waste management Anaerobic lagoon Anaerobic digestion
Daily spread Solid storage (composting) Open field feeding Hoga 1.5 5.475b 2.08 11.2 0.24 48.0 – Holsteina 56.0 16.0 3.0 12.0 6.0 660.0 120.0 Holsteinc 149.47 – – – – – – Buffaloa 55.0 2.0 – – – – – Yellow and hybrid cattlea 44.0 1.0 0.0 4.0 4.0 400.0 240.0 Goata 5.0 0.18 1.2 2.4 – 144.0 – Milk goatd 8.0 0.28 1.92 3.84 – 230.4 – Rabbitd 0.143 0.005 0.034 0.069 – 4.116 – Deerd 5.0 0.18 1.2 2.4 – 144.0 – Horsed 18.0 2.08 0.0 4.0 4.0 400.0 240.0 Chickena – 0.048 – – 0.006 11.88 – Colorful broilere; g 8.482 10 5 – – – – – – Broilere ;g 1.587 10 5 – – – – – – Layerf ;g 5.035 10 5 – – – – – – Duckf ; g 5.239 10 5 0.05 0.0 0.0 6.2 10 3 12.36 – Geesef ; g 1.158 10 4 0.110 0.0 0.0 1.43 10 2 28.44 – Turkeyf ; g 1.158 10 4 0.110 0.0 0.0 1.43 10 2 28.44 – aIPCC (1997). bLin et al. (1989). cLee et al. (2000).
dThe values of milk goat, deer, horse and rabbit were calculated from goat and adjusted by body weight of livestock. eHuang and Wang (2000).
fThe values of layer, duck, geese and turkey were calculated from broiler and colorful broiler and adjusted by body weight of
poultry.
gThe values were represented in kg/head/life cycle for methane emission coefficient, and mg/head/life cycle for nitrous oxide emission
Table 2
Heads of livestock on farms at the year-end and heads of poultry slaughtered in Taiwan
Item 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Livestock on farms (103) Hog 8565 10 089 9754 9845 10 066 10 509 10 698 7967 6539 7243 7495 Holstein 91 101 111 117 119 124 125 133 134 136 137 Buffalo 22 19 17 16 15 13 11 10 9 9 8 Yellow and hybrid cattle 42 34 31 32 31 28 26 24 23 20 17 Goat 173 176 202 294 311 319 310 315 316 237 202 Milk goat 34 40 45 72 90 112 119 127 129 126 113 Rabbit 161 139 128 112 87 79 76 55 55 43 40 Deer 36 33 30 29 27 24 23 23 22 21 20 Horse 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6 06 0.8 Total 9125 10 630 10 319 10 518 10 746 11 207 11 389 8654 7226 7836 8033 Poultry headslaughtered(103) Chicken 226 556 233 971 257 666 288 243 301 914 319 820 345 509 389 966 389 524 385 563 389 770 Colorful broiler 135 664 126 692 136 831 147 906 149 933 150 756 164 084 180 072 175 215 175 328 173 627 Broiler 74 415 97 504 104 247 123 161 133 495 149 451 159 983 185 280 189 535 185 077 191 202 Layer 16 477 15 775 16 588 17 176 18 486 19 613 21 442 24 614 24 774 25 158 24 948 Duck 39 900 36 295 40 558 45 483 40 886 42 580 41 759 41 156 35 719 35 208 34 099 Tsaiya 1631 1556 1764 1943 1982 2070 2131 2146 2116 2049 2024 Mule-duck 38 269 34 739 38 794 43 540 38 904 40 510 39 628 39 010 33 603 33 195 32 075 Geese 4777 4628 5683 6397 8521 7744 7078 7503 7955 7464 6503 Turkey 758 636 543 521 458 415 398 429 432 488 500 Total 271 991 275 530 304 450 340 644 351 779 370 559 394 774 439 054 433 630 428 723 430 871 Table 3
Estimation of methane emissions from the enteric fermentation of livestock and poultry in Taiwan (ton)
Item 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Livestock 30 828.8 34 081.1 34 782.3 36 816.7 37 442.4 38 916.8 39 227. 3 36 108.8 34 066.7 34 901.2 34 879.8 Hog 12 847.9 15 133.7 14 631.7 14 767.4 15 098.3 15 762.8 16 047.6 11 950.3 9 807.9 10 864.8 11 242.4 Holstein 13 571.6 15 027.6 16 309.4 17 494.4 17 712.6 18 588.8 18 754. 2 19 835.3 20 034.5 20 325.5 20 404.8 Buffalo 1201.2 1024.0 914.3 906.9 820.0 708.6 616.7 528.1 470.6 505.4 427.2 Yellow and hybrid cattle 1828.8 1482.8 1348.8 1411.0 1357.8 1213.4 1162.9 1059.9 1003.5 883.3 766.4 Goat 865.0 878.8 1011.7 1471.2 1554.0 1593.8 1547.5 1577.0 1578.1 1186.5 1012.5 Milk goat 270.2 316.8 363.7 576.0 723.1 894.7 952.4 1017.2 1032.9 1006.7 900.4 Rabbit 46.1 39.7 36.5 31.9 24.7 22.5 21.7 15.8 15.6 12.8 12.0 Deer 182.4 164.2 152.2 143.7 137.2 119.9 113.2 113.1 112.4 106.0 100.1 Horse 15.7 13.5 14.0 14.2 14.6 12.4 11.3 12.2 11.2 10.2 14.0 Poultry 31.9 30.6 33.2 36.3 36.9 37.7 40.3 44.1 43.0 42.8 42.4 Chicken 13.5 13.1 14.1 15.4 15.8 16.2 17.5 19.5 19.1 19.1 19.0 Colorful broiler 11.5 10.8 11.6 12.6 12.7 12.8 13.9 15.3 14.9 14.9 14.7 Broiler 1.2 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.9 3.0 2.9 3.0 Layer 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 Duck 2.1 1.9 2.1 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 1.9 1.9 1.8 Tsaiya 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Mule-duck 2.0 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.7 Geese 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 Turkey 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Total 30 860.6 34 111.7 34 815.4 36 853.0 37 479.2 38 954.5 39 267.7 36 152.9 34 109.7 34 943.9 34 922.2
maximal value of 16.3 million ton in 1996, and decreased
to 14.3 million ton in 2000. Hog feces is the major
ani-mal waste, accounting for 50.2% of the total aniani-mal
waste in 1990, 53.7% in 1991, 34.7% in 1998, and 38.2%
in 2000. Chicken manure is the next to hog and
ac-counted for 32.3% of the total animal waste in 1990,
45.7% in 1998, and 43.0% in 2000.
Hog (60 kg weight) daily produced 60 l gas
con-taining 60–80% of methane, with the annual methane
production of 10.95 kg (Hong, 1986b). Lin et al. (1989)
reported that each head of hog daily produced 40 l of
wastewater, and generated 31.4 l of methane after
an-aerobic digestion. The average daily methane emission
from hog waste management was 21 l (equivalent to 15.0
g methane), and the annual methane emission was 5.475
kg/head. Methane emission from animal waste
man-agement, estimated with local measurement and IPCC
recommendation, is listed in Table 5. With IPCC
guide-lines, methane emission from waste management was
40 317 ton in 1990, had a peak value of 51 251 ton in
1996, decreased to 35 177 ton in 1998 due to the
wide-spread foot and mouth disease, and then increased
gradually to 39 033 ton in 2000. Based on the local
measurement data, methane emission from waste
man-agement was 57 176 ton in 1990, had the highest value
72 985 ton in 1996, decreased to 51 182 ton in 1998, and
then increased gradually to 56 277 ton in 2000. High
methane emission from hog waste management in
Tai-wan might be due to the high temperature environment
which favors the methanogenesis. It showed that hog
waste management, the major source of methane
emis-sion, accounted for 82.0% of the total methane emission
in 1990, 83.9% in 1991, 69.9% in 1998, and 72.9% in
2000. Chicken manure was the next to hog waste,
ac-counting for 5.8% of the total methane emission in 1991
and 11.3% in 1998.
3.3. Nitrous oxide emission from waste management
In Taiwan, livestock liquid waste is subjected to
an-aerobic digestion, followed by aeration or facultative
treatment to remove BOD, COD and SS, while the solid
waste is used as raw materials for composting. Chao
(2001) studied the effect of livestock and poultry compost
Table 4
Feces production of livestock and poultry in Taiwan Item Daily secrete (kg/ head) Annual amount (kg/ head)
Total amount (103ton)
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Live-stock 7555 8710 8548 8719 8889 9251 9386 7448 6408 6908 7064 Hog 2.0 730 6253 7365 7121 7187 7348 7671 7810 5816 4773 5288 5471 Holstein 27.5 10 038 911 1009 1110 1175 1190 1248 1259 1332 1345 1365 1370 Buffalo 13.75 5019 110 93 83 83 75 65 56 48 43 46 39 Yellow and hybrid cattle 13.75 5019 209 169 154 161 155 138 133 121 114 101 87 Goat 0.75 273.8 47 48 53 81 85 87 85 86 86 65 55 Milk goat 0.75 273.8 9 11 12 20 25 31 33 35 35 34 31 Rabbit 0.027 9.855 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Deer 0.75 273.8 10 9 8 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 5 Horse 13.75 5019 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 Poultry 4895 5010 5730 5975 6277 6446 6898 7223 7363 7405 7252 Chicken Colorful broiler 0.14 51.1 1862 1869 2100 2182 2184 2265 2414 2482 2477 2532 2367 Broiler 0.14 51.1 906 984 1142 1257 1392 1456 1596 1770 1882 1845 1816 Layer 0.15 54.75 1249 1275 1327 1370 1524 1588 1756 1881 1928 1964 1973 Duck Tsaiya 0.16 58.4 128 128 155 165 166 174 169 184 170 169 170 Mule-duck 0.16 58.4 492 494 704 613 584 590 589 509 502 514 450 Geese 0.32 116.8 216 226 269 356 400 348 353 371 377 351 446 Turkey 0.33 120.45 42 34 32 32 26 25 22 25 28 32 30 Total 12 451 13 720 14 278 14 694 15 166 15 698 16 283 14 671 13 771 14 313 14 316
on nitrous oxide emission from soils. Application of
cow, chicken and hog compost released 1.07–1.28%,
0.46–0.60% and 0.79% of nitrogen as nitrous oxide
emission, respectively. There is no local measurement on
Table 5
Estimation of methane emission from the waste management of livestock and poultry in Taiwan (ton)
Item 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Livestock 48 481.9 56 968.4 55 296.3 55 919.3 57 154.1 59 672.0 60 724.2 45 883.7 38 082.1 41 953.3 43 325.6 Hog 46 894.0 55 238.0 53 406.0 53 901.0 55 109.0 57 534.0 58 573.0 43 619.0 35 799.0 39 656.0 41 035.0 Holstein 1452.8 1608.6 1769.5 1872.7 1896.1 1989.8 2007.5 2123. 3 2144.6 2175.7 2184.2 Buffalo 43.8 37.2 33.3 33.0 29.8 25.8 22.4 19.2 17.1 18.4 15.5 Yellow and hybrid cattle 41.6 33.7 30.7 32.1 30.9 27.6 26.4 24.1 22.8 20.1 17.4 Goat 31.1 31.6 36.4 53.0 56.0 57.4 55.7 56.8 56.8 42.7 36.5 Milk goat 9.5 11.1 12.7 20.2 25.3 31.3 33.3 35.6 36.2 35.2 31.5 Rabbit 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 Deer 6.6 5.9 5.5 5.2 4.9 4.3 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.8 3.6 Horse 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.6 Poultry 8694.3 8905.3 10 173.2 10 560.0 11 067.3 11 435.0 12 261.2 12 845.6 13 100.2 13 189.5 12 951.6 Chicken 3695.0 3797.8 4209.2 4431.8 4695.7 4888.2 5305.7 5643. 1 5784.5 5832.6 5880.6 Colorful broiler 1749.0 1755.7 1972.9 2049.5 2051.9 2127.8 2267.2 2331. 1 2326.4 2378.2 2223.3 Broiler 850.6 924.1 1073.1 1180.9 1307.9 1367.9 1498.9 1662.9 1767.4 1732.8 1705.7 Layer 1095.4 1118.0 1163.2 1201.4 1335.9 1392.6 1539.6 1649.1 1690.7 1721.6 1729.5 Duck 531.2 533.1 736.0 665.8 642.2 654.2 648.9 593.2 575.7 582.5 564.1 Tsaiya 110.0 109.9 132.8 141.3 142.2 148.7 144.4 157.3 145.7 144.7 145.7 Mule-duck 421.3 423.2 603.2 524.5 500.0 505.6 504.5 435.9 430.0 437.8 385.2 Geese 203.5 212.4 253.6 335.4 377.0 327.7 332.3 349.8 354.8 330.7 288.1 Turkey 38.4 31.2 29.4 29.5 23.7 22.4 19.8 23.2 25.2 28.8 29.5 Total 57 176.2 65 873.7 65 469.5 66 479.2 68 230.4 71 107.0 72 985.3 58 729.3 51 182.3 55 142.9 56 277.2 Table 6
Estimation of nitrous oxide emission from the waste management of livestock and poultry in Taiwan (kg)
Item 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Livestock 780.9 776.3 765.4 796.5 816.0 850.1 860.9 698.8 611.0 641.9 646.9 Hog 626.9 620.7 600.1 605.7 619.2 646.5 658.2 490.1 402.3 445.6 461.1 Holstein 72.7 80.5 88.6 93.8 94.9 99.6 100.5 106.3 107.4 108.9 109.3 Buffalo 14.2 12.1 10.8 10.7 9.7 8.4 7.3 6.2 5.5 6.0 5.0 Yellow and hybrid cattle 26.9 21.8 19.9 20.8 20.0 17.9 17.1 15.6 14.8 13.0 11.3 Goat 25.5 25.9 29.9 43.4 45.9 47.1 45.7 46.6 46.6 35.0 29.9 Milk goat 8.0 9.4 10.7 17.0 21.4 26.4 28.1 30.0 30.5 29.7 26.6 Rabbit 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 Deer 5.4 4.9 4.5 4.3 4.1 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.0 Horse 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 Poultry 1108.9 1135.3 1297.5 1356.5 1425.2 1462.8 1565.4 1640.6 1673.0 1681.3 1648.3 Chicken 915.0 940.4 1042.3 1097.4 1162.8 1210.5 1313.8 1397.4 1432.4 1444.3 1401.2 Colorful broiler 433.1 434.7 488.5 507.5 508.1 526.9 561.4 577.2 576.1 588.9 550.5 Broiler 210.6 228.8 265.7 292.4 323.9 338.7 371.2 411.8 437.7 429.1 422.4 Layer 271.2 276.9 288.1 297.5 330.8 344.8 381.2 408.4 418.7 426.3 428.3 Duck 131.4 131.8 182.0 164.7 158.8 161.8 160.5 146.7 142.4 144.0 131.3 Tsaiya 27.2 27.2 32.8 35.0 35.2 36.8 35.7 38.9 36.0 35.8 36.0 Mule-duck 104.2 104.7 149.2 129.7 123.7 125.0 124.8 107.8 106.4 108.3 95.3 Geese 52.6 55.0 65.6 86.8 97.5 84.8 86.0 90.5 91.8 85.5 108.7 Turkey 9.9 8.1 7.6 7.6 6.1 5.8 5.1 6.0 6.5 7.5 7.1 Total 1889.8 1911.6 2062.9 2153.0 2241.2 2313.8 2426.3 2339. 4 2284.0 2323.2 2297.2
the nitrous oxide emission from waste management.
Therefore, nitrous oxide emission from anaerobic
di-gestion, anaerobic lagoon, daily spread, solid storage
and composting, open field feeding and other treatments
were adapted from the IPCC guidelines (1997).
Nitrification and denitrification of nitrogen
com-pounds in the wastes and in the soils can release nitrous
oxide. Nitrous oxide emission from animal waste
man-agement increased from 1890 kg in 1990 to 2426 kg in
1996, and then decreased slightly to 2297 kg in 2000
(Table 6). Chicken waste contributed 48.4% of the total
nitrous oxide emission from animal waste management
in 1990 and 61.0% in 2000. Hog waste contributed
33.2% in 1990 and 20.1% in 2000.
4. Conclusion
Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from enteric
fermentation and waste management in Taiwan are
summarized in Fig. 1. Methane emission was distinctly
higher than that of nitrous oxide in animal feeding
sec-tor. Total methane emission amounted to 88.04 Gg in
1990, 112.25 Gg in 1996, and 91.20 Gg in 2000. Total
nitrous oxide emission was only 1.89 ton in 1990, had
the highest 2.43 ton in 1996, and down to 2.30 ton in
2000. There is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from animal feeding sector and to recover and
utilize methane from animal waste management,
be-cause of their impact on global warming.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Professors Y.P. Wang, C.C.
Chao, H.Y. Wang, C.M. Lai, C.F. Lee and S.D. Chang
for their helpful assistances and comments, National
Science Council (NSC 86-2621-P002-003) and
Environ-mental Protection Administration (EPA-89-fall-03-145)
of Republic of China for financial supports.
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