Emission of greenhouse gas from livestock waste and wastewater treatment in Taiwan

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission can become a limiting factor in livestock farming development. Animal manure management systems in Taiwan differ from the model of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to represent the Far East and Asian region. This study was undertaken to establish GHG production data from anaerobic livestock wastewater treatment processes in Taiwan, and to clarify implications of the difference between the livestock wastewater treatment system presented by the IPCC and that used in Taiwan. This study measures GHG emission from three pig farms and three dairy farms in northern, central, and southern Taiwan. Analysis of GHG samples from in situ anaerobic wastewater treatment systems of pig and dairy farms revealed, respectively, average emissions of 0.768 and 4.898 kg CH4 per head per year, 0.714 and 4.200 kg CO2 per head per year, and 0.002 and 0.011 kg N2O per head per year during three temperature periods. Average emissions rates for CH4 from selected pig and dairy farms were lower than the limits imposed by the IPCC, because animal manure is diluted before being treated with a solid/liquid separator and an anaerobic wastewater treatment system in Taiwan. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.