Methane production and estimation from livestock husbandry: A mechanistic understanding and emerging mitigation options.

Globally, livestock is an important contributor to methane (CH4) emissions. This paper reviewed the various CH4 measurement and estimation techniques and mitigation approaches for the livestock sector. Two approaches for enteric livestock CH4 emission estimation are the top-down and bottom-up. The combination of both could further improve our understanding of enteric CH4 emission and possible mitigation measures. We discuss three mitigation approaches: reducing emissions, avoiding emissions, and enhancing the removal of emissions from livestock. Dietary management, livestock management, and breeding management are viable reducing emissions pathways. Dietary manipulation is easily applicable and can bring an immediate response. Economic incentive policies can help the livestock farmers to opt for diet, breeding, and livestock management mitigation approaches. Carbon pricing creates a better option to achieve reduction targets in a given period. A combination of carbon pricing, feeding management, breeding management, and livestock management is more feasible and sustainable CH4 emissions mitigation strategy rather than a single approach.

Climate change impact of livestock CH4 emission in India: Global temperature change potential (GTP) and surface temperature response.

Two climate metrics, Global surface Temperature Change Potential (GTP) and the Absolute GTP (AGTP) are used for studying the global surface temperature impact of CH4 emission from livestock in India. The impact on global surface temperature is estimated for 20 and 100 year time frames due to CH4 emission. The results show that the CH4 emission from livestock, worked out to 15.3 Tg in 2012. In terms of climate metrics GTP of livestock-related CH4 emission in India in 2012 were 1030 Tg CO2e (GTP20) and 62 Tg CO2e (GTP100) at the 20 and 100 year time horizon, respectively. The study also illustrates that livestock-related CH4 emissions in India can cause a surface temperature increase of up to 0.7mK and 0.036mK over the 20 and 100 year time periods, respectively. The surface temperature response to a year of Indian livestock emission peaks at 0.9mK in the year 2021 (9 years after the time of emission). The AGTP gives important information in terms of temperature change due to annual CH4 emissions, which is useful when comparing policies that address multiple gases.

State of municipal solid waste management in Delhi, the capital of India.

Delhi is the most densely populated and urbanized city of India. The annual growth rate in population during the last decade (1991-2001) was 3.85%, almost double the national average. Delhi is also a commercial hub, providing employment opportunities and accelerating the pace of urbanization, resulting in a corresponding increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation. Presently the inhabitants of Delhi generate about 7000tonnes/day of MSW, which is projected to rise to 17,000-25,000tonnes/day by the year 2021. MSW management has remained one of the most neglected areas of the municipal system in Delhi. About 70-80% of generated MSW is collected and the rest remains unattended on streets or in small open dumps. Only 9% of the collected MSW is treated through composting, the only treatment option, and rest is disposed in uncontrolled open landfills at the outskirts of the city. The existing composting plants are unable to operate to their intended treatment capacity due to several operational problems. Therefore, along with residue from the composting process, the majority of MSW is disposed in landfills. In absence of leachate and landfill gas collection systems, these landfills are a major source of groundwater contamination and air pollution (including generation of greenhouse gases). This study describes and evaluates the present state of municipal solid waste management in Delhi. The paper also summarizes the proposed policies and initiatives of the Government of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to improve the existing MSW management system.

COD and BOD removal from domestic wastewater generated in decentralised sectors.

The objective of this work is to study COD and BOD reduction of domestic wastewater using discarded material based mixed adsorbents (mixed adsorbent carbon, MAC and commercial activated carbon, CAC) in batch mode. Under optimum conditions, maximum reduction and maximum COD and BOD reduction achieved using MAC and CAC was 95.87% and 97.45%; and 99.05% and 99.54%, respectively. Results showed that MAC offered potential benefits for COD and BOD removal from wastewater.

Leachate characterization and assessment of groundwater pollution near municipal solid waste landfill site.

Leachate and groundwater samples were collected from Gazipur landfill-site and its adjacent area to study the possible impact of leachate percolation on groundwater quality. Concentration of various physico-chemical parameters including heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) and microbiological parameters (total coliform (TC) and faecal coliform (FC)) were determined in groundwater and leachate samples. The moderately high concentrations of Cl-, NO3(-), SO4(2-), NH4(+), Phenol, Fe, Zn and COD in groundwater, likely indicate that groundwater quality is being significantly affected by leachate percolation. Further they proved to be as tracers for groundwater contamination. The effect of depth and distance of the well from the pollution source was also investigated. The presence of TC and FC in groundwater warns for the groundwater quality and thus renders the associated aquifer unreliable for domestic water supply and other uses. Although some remedial measures are suggested to reduce further groundwater contamination via leachate percolation, the present study demand for the proper management of waste in Delhi.

Municipal solid waste characterization and its assessment for potential methane generation: a case study.

There has been a significant increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in India during the last few decades and its management has become a major issue because the poor waste management practices affect the health and amenity of the cities. In the present study, various physico-chemical parameters of the MSW were analyzed to characterize the waste dumped at Gazipur landfill site in Delhi, India, which shows that it contains a high fraction of degradable organic components. The decomposition of organic components produces methane, a significant contributor to global warming. Based on the waste composition, waste age and the total amount dumped, a first-order decay model (FOD) was applied to estimate the methane generation potential of the Gazipur landfill site, which yields an estimate of 15.3 Gg/year. This value accounts to about 1-3% of existing Indian landfill methane emission estimates. Based on the investigation of Gazipur landfill, we estimate Indian landfill methane emissions at 1.25 Tg/year or 1.68 Tg/year of methane generation potential. These values are within the range of existing estimates. A comparison of FOD with a recently proposed triangular model was also performed and it shows that both models can be used for the estimation of methane generation. However, the decrease of the emission after closure is more gradual in the case of the first-order model, leading to larger gas production predictions after more than 10 years of closure. The regional and global implications of national landfill methane emission are also discussed.

Induction of enhanced methane oxidation in compost: temperature and moisture response.

Landfilling is one of the most common ways of municipal solid waste disposal. Degradation of organic waste produces CH(4) and other landfill gases that significantly contribute to global warming. However, before entering the atmosphere, part of the produced CH(4) can be oxidised while passing through the landfill cover. In the present study, the oxidation rate of CH(4) was studied with various types of compost as possible landfill cover. The influence of incubation time, moisture content and temperature on the CH(4) oxidation capacity of different types of compost was examined. It was observed that the influence of moisture content and temperature on methane oxidation is time-dependent. Maximum oxidation rates were observed at moisture contents ranging from 45% to 110% (dry weight basis), while the optimum temperature ranged from 15 to 30 degrees C.

Application of a system dynamics approach for assessment and mitigation of CO2 emissions from the cement industry.

A system dynamics model based on the dynamic interactions among a number of system components is developed to estimate CO(2) emissions from the cement industry in India. The CO(2) emissions are projected to reach 396.89 million tonnes by the year 2020 if the existing cement making technological options are followed. Policy options of population growth stabilisation, energy conservation and structural management in cement manufacturing processes are incorporated for developing the CO(2) mitigation scenarios. A 42% reduction in the CO(2) emissions can be achieved in the year 2020 based on an integrated mitigation scenario. Indirect CO(2) emissions from the transport of raw materials to the cement plants and finished product to market are also estimated.

Investigations of methane emissions from rice cultivation in Indian context.

The increasing demand of the growing population requires enhancement in the production of rice. This has a direct bearing on the global environment since the rice cultivation is one of the major contributors to the methane emissions. As the rice cultivation is intensified with the current practices and technologies, the methane fluxes from paddy fields will substantially rise. Improved high yielding rice varieties together with efficient cultivation techniques will certainly contribute to the curtailment of the methane emission fluxes. In this paper, the system dynamic approach is used for estimating the methane emissions from rice fields in India till the year 2020. Mitigation options studied for curtailing the methane emissions include rice production management, use of low methane emitting varieties of rice, water management and fertilizer amendment. The model is validated quantitatively and sensitivity tests are carried out to examine the robustness of the model.

Evolution of a dust void in a radio-frequency plasma sheath.

The onset and growth of a dust void are investigated in a radio-frequency (rf) sheath of a capacitively coupled argon plasma. A circularly symmetric void emerges and grows with increasing rf power and pressure in the central region of the dust cloud levitating in the sheath. Experimental measurements of the void diameter are compared with the predictions of a simple phenomenological theory, based on a balance of forces on dust grains.