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► Journal BrowserSpecial Issue "Biochar and Greenhouse Gas Emissions during Livestock Bio-Waste Composting"
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.
Special Issue Editors
Interests: composting; greenhouse gas; biochar; vermicomposting; solid waste management; water and wastewater pollution monitoring and treatment
Interests: greenhouse gas; biomass; bioenergy; composting; bioengineering
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Interests: soil fertility; composting; biochar; microbial diversity and technology
Interests: waste to energy; biofuels; pyrolysis; anaerobic digestion; waste biorefinery
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Interests: Composting; Greenhoues gases emission and nutrients recovery
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Interests: nanomaterials; water remediation; colorimetric sensors; biocomposites
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Interests: solid waste management; composting; biomass valorisation; circular economy; waste to energy; landfill mining; biodegradation
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bio-waste treatment by composting processes is considered as a sustainable approach through which the carbon and nitrogen are restored and re-introduced into the soil as fertilizers. Live-stock operations generate large quantities of Bio-waste, including yard waste, animal bedding, animal manures, feed material, and urine, which are usually treated by composting processes. However, greenhouse gas emission, nutrient/metal leaching, and bad odor are major bottlenecks for live-stock bio-waste composting. Also, the fertilizer quality and soil applications are hampered because of the presence of antibiotics and pathogens, if the composting process is not well defined. Therefore, in-vessel composters or industrial composters are recommended for live-stock bio-waste treatment. However, the stability and fertilizer quality of compost related to the initial feed stock characteristics and operational conditions/strategies (i.e., the addition of bulking agent’s, waste pre-treatment, temperature regulations, special inoculum additions, and composter designs). However, moisture management is key for the successful operation of any bio-waste composting process, and is achieved through ash or biochar amendments or through co-composting. The addition of biochar, and a larger surface area, help to not only improve the moisture content, but also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Biochar addition also changes the microbial dynamics of the composting process and adsorbs heavy metals from the waste material/liquids, while acting as a catalyst for reducing the pathogen load. Even though the merits of biochar addition in the bio-waste composting process are very clear, there is much more that needs to be explained and understood.
With this background, the Special Issue, “Biochar and Greenhouse Gas Emissions during Livestock Bio-Waste Composting”, will cover the following topics (but not limited to), in order to provide the current state of art technology for improving the composting process:
- Centralized vs. decentralized composting processes and benefits
- Carbon and nitrogen mass balance in open pit composting and in-vessel composting
- Effective bulking agents for the composting of high-moisture bio-wastes
- Role of biochar as a bulking agent and end product quality
- Microbial community dynamics of compost process and pathogen reductions
- Greenhouse gas emissions and capture from the composting process
- Leaching of metals, organic volatiles, and toxic compounds from the composting process
- Cost benefit analysis and energy substitutions
- Future composting process at urban environments—pros and cons
- Vermi-composting and bio-augmented composting processes
- Compost quality and standard requirements for different types of compost.
Dr. Obulisamy Parthiba Karthikeyan
Prof. Dr. Mukesh Kumar Awasthi
Prof. Dr. Abdul-Sattar Nizami
Prof. Zengqiang Zhang
Prof. Dr. Janardhan Reddy Koduru
Dr. M.K. Manu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- composting
- biochar
- livestock waste
- manure
- soil amendments
- greenhouse gas emission
- microbiology of composting
- pilot scale compost operations
- special inoculum additions