There are two potential sources for CH4 emissions in the algae pathway, the AD process and biogas clean-up. Based on a literature review (Liebertrau, et al., 2010; Flesch, et al., 2011), we assume a total fugitive CH4 loss of 2% for this pathway. Biogas flaring efficiency was observed to be less than usually expected, averaging 81% CH4 combustion in the flare with a range of 48% to 99%. This range is usually assumed to be 90% to 95%. However, the N2O emission from the N-containing sludge was ignored because chemical fertilizers replaced by the biogas residue are associated with the same issue.
Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Soil Application of Digestate Solids
The nitrogen in the digestate might be converted to nitrous oxide (N2O), a GHG even more potent than CH4, after application to soil. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) task force on greenhouse inventories emission factor for direct N2O emissions from organic fertilizers is 0.01 kg N2O–N per kilogram of applied N where each kilogram of N2O–N equates to 44/14 g of N2O (IPCC, 2006). Direct N2O emissions from field application of digestate were estimated in this manner and added as a GHG burden. Emissions from transporting digestate to the field assumed the digestate was dewatered by centrifuge to 30 wt% solids.
Integrating all factors over 100 years, Bruun et al. (2006) computed that the scenario with digestate substituting for a portion of the mineral fertilizer had additional emissions of 0.013 to 0.017 kg
A 10 g of fresh soil in 100 mL conical flask was incubated under anaerobic condition with an addition of different solutions. The solutions consisted of 1 g/L of chloramphenicol for four treatments, 1) distilled water (Ctrl), 2) glucose of 300 mg C/L (+C), 3) KNO3 of 50 mg N/L (+N), and 4) glucose of 300 mg C/L + KNO3 of 50 mg N/L (+C+N). The flasks were evacuated and flushed four times with N2 to ensure anaerobic conditions, and acetylene (C2H2) gas was added to a final concentration of 10% (10 kPa) in the headspace. Gas was sampled after 24, 36 and 72 h using syringe and directly analysed for N2O concentration by chromatography with ECD. DEA were calculated from the linear increasing of N2O production against the
The excess use of fertilizers can result in soil erosion and can lead to land pollution.
Patrick J. Buchanan wrote an article titled “Is This Our America Anymore?”, his position is anti-immigration and believes that America will not be ours anymore. Mr. Buchanan stated in his article “ The border will disappear, and America will be a geographical expression, not a country anymore”.(paragraph 14) Buchanan believes this because according to him “it will not be long before Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Texas resemble California, which is on the brink of default¨.(Buchanan paragraph 12)
The article explains how biofuels isn’t something that is just discovered, hence, the algae biofuel has been put in a place of fossil fuel today. There have be a lot of companies as well as government agencies that are finding several ways in reducing the cost of producing algae biofuel to make profit from the source of fuel.
In this experiment, algae solutions of different concentrations of carbon dioxide, on algal growth are tested to determine the effect of varying concentrations of carbon dioxide, on algal growth over a period of nine days. The rate of photosynthesis was deduced from the change in turbidity levels of the solution.
These compounds are taken up by plants as nutrients from the soil and converted into plant proteins (amino acids). Plant proteins become animal proteins when eaten and metabolized by herbivorous animals, and when carnivorous animals eat the herbivorous. These proteins return to the soil through animal excrement and the decomposition of dead animals and plants, and are converted into carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia (gaseous compound of nitrogen and hydrogen) by a set of bacteria in the soil. A portion of this ammonia is converted into soil nitrogen (fixed nitrogen) by another set of bacteria and the balance is released into the atmosphere as free nitrogen (N2).” (nitrogen cycle, n.d.) Human impact on this cycle is very significant. Farmers plant crops such as; peas, beans, and alfalfa. These crops pull nitrogen from the air which helps raise the rate of nitrogen fixation on the land. Farmers also plant corn and wheat which are sprayed with nitrogen derived from industrial fixation. All of these crops help humans to survive. Having these crops benefiting humans we are more than doubling the amount of nitrogen that’s moved from the atmosphere to the land. When sulfur is released by burning fossil fuels, which humans do, this is killing and polluting our lakes and ponds and killing our forests. With these and other chemicals being put into our land, these are reaching our oceans and big areas of water and this will
People can often change their minds to do anything if correctly persuaded. Similarly to this great writers can get the readers to not only to go deeper than just following along with the story. One example of this is The Great Gatsby, it is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about the American Dream and true happiness. Fitzgerald is a very convincing writer and uses many tactics to convey what he is truly trying to say. He uses three important symbols in The Great Gatsby to effectively work to enhance the true meanings of the plot and characters.
Natural sources account for 62% of total nitrous oxide emission globally. Apart from natural sources, nitrous oxide can also be emitted from anthropogenic activities include: agriculture, industrial, fuel and biomass combustion, and sewage treatment (Sutton et al., 2014; Scheehle and Kruger, 2006; Tsai and Chyan, 2006). Among all sources, agriculture contributes the largest proportion (60%) around the world in recent years (IPCC-Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2008).
The data does not support the hypothesis, since the products that produced more biogas were not the vegetable peelings and the cow manure. The average difference between the vegetable peelings (approximately 0.6 cm) and the mashed bananas (approximately 2.5 cm) were 1.9 cm
Although dredging can be expensive, this price can stop algal blooms before they occur. Some mitigation measures could also be taken to stop HAB’s these include; physical removal of the plant and adding algaecides to the water and changing the aquatic food web in the lake or pond. Flocculation, coagulation, sedimentation and filtration are basic ways to make our drinking water clean and free of toxins but although they work most filtration and cleaning techniques have problems. The issue that we need to research and find new ways to prevent the algae from forming in the first place. This is because although there are ways of fixing it, it does not get the job entirely done. ("Control And
In recent decades humans have been playing an increasingly large role in the nitrogen cycle. Not all of the ways humans have been affecting the cycle have been negative, but the vast majority have been. One key thing that has human activity that has been disrupting the nitrogen cycle is the burning of fossil fuel. This burning releases carbon into the air at unnatural rate, and thus alters the amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere. This has had far reaching effects that no one first thought of and is now affecting the plant and animals in Acadia National Park. Another human activity that has increased massively over the past few years is industrial nitrogen fixation. This process is used to create fertilizer with high amount of nitrogen in it.
“Methane has been identified as a significant contributor to global warming. It is second to carbon dioxide in contribution to global warming and is said to be 15-20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.” (Yusuf, Noor, Abba, A. Hassan, & Din., 2012, p. 1). The majority of the greenhouse gases emitted in the agricultural sector came from livestock (Yusuf et al., 2012, p. 2). Studies have shown that “cows produce more greenhouse gases than the entire
The impacts of livestock on global climate change are important to the health of the ecosystem because it causes the average global temperature to increase. Livestock contributes to the majority of methane emitted into the atmosphere because of the feces it produces. The growing population increase is not helpful to this matter because as a result, a demand of food arises. This demand for food also includes the demand for livestock because it is appropriate for the human diet. “Meat production is to double from 229 million tonnes in [2000] to 465 million tonnes in 2050” (McMichael et al. 1259). The methane emission rate is bound to increase because it is “dependent upon the population size of the [livestock], their productivity, and [handling system]” (Jose et al. 3).
United Nations Global Environmental Alert Service claims, “Livestock emissions makeup nearly 80 percent of emissions from agriculture and agricultural emissions make up an estimated 10 to 35 percent of total global emissions.” Although livestock produce a lot of emissions, their impact on the soil and people outweigh the negative effects of the emissions.
Nitrogen is one of the main biogeochemical elements, around which a cycle supports life on Earth. Nitrogen can be found in many forms, one of which is nitrite, a toxic chemical that can produce severe abnormalities in animals (Binta and Mushi, 2012). Nitrite is formed from nitrate by micro-organisms and bacteria present in soil, water, saliva, and the large intestine of most animals. These micro-organisms are present in high amounts in ruminants such as cows, which poses serious implications on the dairy industry as nitrite poisoning, if nitrate levels are not closely monitored, can lead to the death of large numbers of livestock as well as birth defects in calves. In ruminants, nitrate is reduced to nitrite, and the rumen microbes utilize this nitrite by converting it into ammonia as a nitrogenous source important in DNA production and synthesis of amino acids (Robson, 2007). Though, when levels of nitrogen rise in excess, nitrite accumulates in rumen, and is then rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, then reacting with the ferrous form of haemoglobin to form met-haemoglobin (met-Hb) (Sidhu et al., 2011). This is a serious issue as met-Hb is a poor transporter of oxygen and the animal suffers from oxygen deficiency. Nitrite poisoning has become more common over the past century as application of nitrogen fertilizer to farmland improves both quality and yield of milk produced by cattle (Sidhu et al., 2011). Nitrogen increases the levels of crude protein in forage, which