managing livestock ammonia: a volatile, promiscuous fugitive in the atmosphere
DESCRIPTION
http://www.extension.org/67750 Livestock production is the largest source of atmospheric ammonia, accounting for over 50 % and 40 % of the national and global inventories, respectively. At beef feedlots for example, 40 to 60 percent of the fed nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere as ammonia. Once ammonia enters the atmosphere it can convert to an aerosol and travel long distances from the source. Most of this fugitive nitrogen is eventually deposited back to the ground when scavenged from the air by precipitation. Unfortunately, this unintentional nitrogen transport and fertilization is having a negative ecological impact on pristine ecosystems around the globe. Thus, it is not surprising that livestock ammonia is an area of growing public concern and regulatory debate. Perhaps nowhere is ammonia from livestock under greater scrutiny than along the Front Range of Colorado. Increased levels of atmospheric nitrogen deposition are having a negative impact on the ecology of Rocky Mountain National Park, a crown jewel of the National Park System. While studies suggest many different sources are contributing to nitrogen deposition in the park (e.g., urban, out of state sources), much attention has been directed to the beef feedlots and dairies that populate the plains just east of the mountains. The keynote address will briefly discuss ammonia emissions from livestock at global scales, with commentary on a new United Nations report "Our Nutrient World" that draws considerable attention to manure management and atmospheric ammonia. The remainder of the presentation will focus on Colorado's regional ammonia issue and what is being done to reduce ammonia loss from feedlots and dairies along the Front Range. New technologies for measuring ammonia and minimizing environmental impacts will be discussed.TRANSCRIPT
Managing Livestock Ammonia: A Volatile,
Promiscuous, Fugitive in the Atmosphere?
Jay Ham
Department of Soil and Crop SciencesColorado State University
Acknowledgements
Christina Williams, Joshua Stratton, Kira Shonkwiler
Co-PIs and Funding Agencies
CSU Department of Atmospheric Science
Members of RMNP Agric. Subcommittee
Cooperators and Industry Partners
Outline
The Global Nitrogen Cycle
Regional Ammonia– N deposition in Rocky
Mountain National Park– What is the contribution
from Livestock ? Farm Scale Solutions
– Measurement, Models, & BMPs
Part 1: The Global Nitrogen Cycle and Livestock Production
“a small leak will sink a great ship” - Benjamin Franklin
A safe operating space for humanity
Rockström et al. 2009. Nature, 461, 472-475Galloway et al. 2008. Science, 320,www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_let_the_environment_guide_our_development.html
Nitrogen !
Erisman et al., 2008. Nature Geoscience
“Globally around 80% of harvested nitrogen and phosphorus is consumed by livestock rather than directly by people, showing how global nutrient supply and pollution are dominated by humans’ choice to consume animal products.” Sutton et al., 2013.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)http://www.gpa.unep.org/gpnm
Sutton et al., 2013. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Recommendations from “Our Nutrient World”
promotion of the ‘ demitarian ’ option, which we define as a meal containing half the amount of meat or fish compared with the normal local amount …,
The Barsac Declaration
Demitarian
Global Nitrogen Fluxes and Livestock AmmoniaFluxes Tg N / yr
Nitrogen Fertilizer 120
Nitrogen Fixation 50-70
Crop and Grass Production 122
Crop and Grass for Livestock Production
100 (81%)
NH3 Emissions from Soils 15
NH3 Emissions from Livestock 22 (59.5 %)
Total NH3 from Agriculture 37
Sutton et al., 2013. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Got Beef ? Got Ammonia !
Retention of fed nitrogen in feedlot cattle is typically 13%
Most fed nitrogen is excreted in the urine and feces as urea
Up to 50% of fed N can be lost to the atmosphere as NH3
Map Courtesy of P.I. Coyne
9.5 million head * 0.31-0.37 lbs N excreted /day
= 2.7 to 3.5 million lbs N/day of excreted N
If 50% is lost to the atmosphere as NH3
1.4 to 1.7 million lbs. of ammonia/day
Satellite Data of NH3 OVER NORTH AMERICA (2009)
Data from Colette L. Heald, CSU
Part 2: Nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park
A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_storm
Rocky Mountain National Park
http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm
NH3SOx NOx
Emissions
Gas-Particle Partitioning (aerosol formation)
NH3
H2SO4
HNO3
NH4+
SO42-
NO3-
Deposition
Dry Wet
Transport
NH3
(Slide by Luke Schiferl)
http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm
Wet Deposition Sampling
Wet N Deposition in RMNP
Morris et al., 2012. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR—2012/562
http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Education/education.htm
Colorado Ammonia Sources
Rocky Mountain National Park Initiative ‐ Nitrogen Deposition Reduction Contingency Plan. June 21, 2010
NE Colorado CAFO Map
Malm, W. C., Collett, Jr., J. L., et al. (2009) The Rocky Mountain Airborne Nitrogen and Sulfur Study (RoMANS), final report to the National Park Service.
strategy taken for apportioning various aerosol species concentrations and deposition to source emissions is a weight-of-evidence approach, comparing and contrasting results from multiple analyses.
Wet Nitrogen Deposition
Part 3: Measurements, Modeling, and BMPs
“What gets measured gets managed “
- Peter Drucker
CSU Livestock NH3 Research
Measurement of NH3 Emissions and Regional Conc. Patterns
Development of management BMPs
Modeling and Software Tools
New TechnologyFunding Sources:USDA, EPA, NRCS, and NSF
Best Management Practices to Reduce Livestock Ammonia
Impacts Feed Management
Change Manure Management
Meteorological Warning Systems
NH3 Measurement Technology
Blue – 13.5% CPRed – OscillatingGreen – 11.6% CP
Effect of Reduced Crude Protein Diet on Pen Surface NH3 Emissions
Diet
Galles K., Ham J., Westover E., Stratton J., Wagner J., Engle T., Bryant T.C. 2011. Influence of Reduced Nitrogen Diets on Ammonia Emissions from Cattle Feedlot Pens. Atmosphere. 2(4):655-670.
New Measurement Technology
Identification of NH3 “Hot Spots”
Tracking and Trend Detection of NH3 emissions
Information for Decision Making
Meeting future regulatory requirements
Robotics for Managing Air Emissions of Ammonia at Livestock Operations
Ham et al., 2012.National Robotics Initiative (NSF/USDA-NIFA)
Goal: Develop a robotic air-quality management system for dairies and cattle feedlots that will help managers reduce ammonia emissions
Design new low-cost Laser for real-time NH3 monitoring
Laser Det.
Sample Gas
Develop a wireless NH3 sensor network
Design weather forecast retrieval system to predict NH3 emissions and transport in advance.
Conditional Passive Samplers
Conditional Passive Samplers
``
Linear Actcuator
Acrylic Tube
Cap
Spacer
Vertical Adapter
Radiello Diffusive Sampler
Foam
Acrylic Disc
Hall Effect Sensor
Control Cable
Spacer
Clevis
Clevis
PlungerMagnet
Hall Effect Cable
Arduino
Northern Colorado Dairy
Beef Feedlot NH3 Concentrations
http://sensemake.rs/portfolio-item/air-quality-egg/
http://aircasting.org/http://aircasting.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2011/aug/18/internet-of-things-local-government
http://www.economist.com/node/17388368
https://www.farmeron.com/
Conclusions
Livestock NH3 is becoming a dominant global and regional environmental issue – and linkages between N pollution, livestock, and food choice will gain more attention over time.
Contact Information: [email protected]; 970-491-4112
Conclusions
The Front Range of Colorado and RMNP has emerged as a test case for how science, policy, and cooperation among stakeholders can address a regional NH3 issue.
Contact Information: [email protected]; 970-491-4112
Conclusions
New measurement technologies, IoT, and M2M communications will likely greatly help livestock managers reducer NH3 losses.
Contact Information: [email protected]; 970-491-4112
