Paper details

Title:

Estimation of Nitrogen and Carbon Loss During Composting Process of Olive Tree Lops and Contribution to Greenhouse Effect

Author(s):

Charisiou, N.D., Goula, M.A., Papadakis, V.G.

Document(s):

Abstract:

The basic objective of the study was to quantify nitrogen and carbon loss during composting in order to understand the process and reduce potential adverse environmental impacts. Nitrogen and carbon loss was determined by the difference between the amounts at the beginning and at the end of the composting. It was observed that all materials were characterized by a reduction of C from 35 to 65%. The reduction of N was much higher than C loss (. loss was between 62 to 73%).The highest losses for N and C were recorded for the buckets containing OTL only, while the bucket containing OTL and seaweeds the least. The reduction of C was due to its transformation in CO2 and CH4 and their release into the atmosphere. Nitrogen can be lost from the mass of materials in runoff and by nitrate leaching composting. Thus, from the experimental point of view it was demonstrated that composting is not a particularly environmentally friendly method of biomass exploitation, due to significant production of greenhouse gases (GHG), such as CO2 and CH4. The study integrates the findings of different investigations from the literature with field measured data in order to obtain a more comprehensive framework representative of the residues under study.

Keywords:

agricultural residues, biomass, composting, carbon dioxide, environmental impact, CO₂

Topic:

Biomass Policies, Markets and Sustainability

Subtopic:

Sustainability assessment and criteria

Event:

20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

5AV.1.24

Pages:

2238 - 2250

ISBN:

978-88-89407-54-7

Paper DOI:

10.5071/20thEUBCE2012-5AV.1.24

Price:

FREE