Improvement of ammonia emission inventory using life cycle assessment based on livestock manure flow: A case study of manure management sector of Korea

Ammonia is one of precursor gases to form particulate matter (PM) which is reacted with nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides in the atmosphere. Based on Clean Air Policy Support System (CAPSS) of Korea, annual ammonia emission is 261,207 tons (year of 2020) and the agricultural sources (manure management sector) emits the highest portion of ammonia. In this study, we aim to recalculate ammonia emissions of livestock industry using the UK's estimation method which is used the life cycle assessment of livestock manure mass flow. four major animal kinds were selected, i.e., cattle (beef cattle and dairy cow), pigs and chickens and three major processes as the manure flow were included such as housing, manure treatment (composting and liquefied fertilization) and land application. Total ammonia emissions were estimated to be approximately 33% higher than the current official ammonia emissions by CAPSS. Ammonia emissions from pigs and poultry were high in four major animal kinds. Relative ammonia emissions from beef cattle and poultry was much higher than those by CAPSS. Highest ammonia emissions were emitted from land application on manure flow. The emission factors of dairy cow and poultry was much higher than those by CAPSS, while the emission factor of pigs was slightly lower than that those by CAPSS. The methodology for the estimation of ammonia emissions used in this study can be a new approach for the estimation of the manure management sector in CAPSS. As a further study, the development of Korean emission factors for each manure flow can be suggested.

 

Acknowledgments:

This research was supported by Particulate Matter Management Specialized Graduate Program through the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE)