Effects of Rock Powder Additions to Cattle Slurry on Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
1
Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany
2
International Centre for Sustainable Development, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Granthamallee 20, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany
3
Faculty of Agriculture, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 6, 53121 Bonn, Germany
4
Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, Nussallee 5, 53115 Bonn, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Marco Ravina, Deborah Panepinto, Laura Valli and Luca D’Angelo
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1652; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121652
Received: 10 November 2021
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Revised: 4 December 2021
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Accepted: 7 December 2021
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Published: 9 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ammonia Emissions from Agriculture Activities: Sources, Dynamics and Fate)
For several decades, farmers have been mixing rock powders with livestock slurry to reduce its NH3 emissions and increase its nutrient content. However, mixing rock powders with slurry is controversial, and there is currently no scientific evidence for its effects on NH3 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or on changes in its nutrient content due to element release from rock powders. The major aim of this study was therefore to analyse the effects of mixing two commercially established rock powders with cattle slurry on NH3, CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions, and on nutrient release over a course of 46 days. We found that rock powders did not significantly affect CO2 emission rates. NH3 and N2O emission rates did not differ significantly up until the end of the trial, when the emission rates of the rock powder treatments significantly increased for NH3 and significantly decreased for N2O, respectively, which coincided with a reduction of the slurry crust. Cumulative NH3 emissions did not, however, differ significantly between treatments. Unexpected and significant increases in CH4 emission rates occurred for the rock powder treatments. Rock powders increased the macro- and micronutrient content of the slurry. The conflicting results are discussed and future research directions are proposed.
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Keywords:
ammonia; cattle slurry; rock powder; silicate; circular economy; fertilizer
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MDPI and ACS Style
Swoboda, P.; Hamer, M.; Stotter, M.; Döring, T.F.; Trimborn, M. Effects of Rock Powder Additions to Cattle Slurry on Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Atmosphere 2021, 12, 1652. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121652
AMA Style
Swoboda P, Hamer M, Stotter M, Döring TF, Trimborn M. Effects of Rock Powder Additions to Cattle Slurry on Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Atmosphere. 2021; 12(12):1652. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121652
Chicago/Turabian StyleSwoboda, Philipp, Martin Hamer, Michael Stotter, Thomas F. Döring, and Manfred Trimborn. 2021. "Effects of Rock Powder Additions to Cattle Slurry on Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Emissions" Atmosphere 12, no. 12: 1652. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121652
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