CH4 emission model from the waste of Sus Domesticus and Gallus Domesticus in Nigerian local farms: Environmental implications and prospects

Abstract

The potential of CH4(methane) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on a model of prevailing behavioural pattern of livestock waste management in Nigerian local farms was investigated in this paper. Livestock waste, from Sus domesticus, pig, and Gallus domesticus, poultry, were employed as substrates in the study which uses water from a fish rearing farm as the matrix medium to simulate wastewater pool/river environment. A substrate to fish-water ratio of 1:3 by mass was used in developed laboratory-size digesting reactor system with U-tube water displacement, to facilitate volumetric readings of gas production, for each mix of the livestock waste. Volumetric readings from these, at ambient temperature conditions in the retention time of 32 days, follow the Normal probability density function, in accordance with Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit criteria. These readings showed that CH4-containing gas as high as 67.3×10-3dm3was produced on the 14th day from the pig and 86.8×10-3dm3on the 13th day from the poultry substrates. The overall CH4-containing gas productions of 255.4×10-3dm3/kg and 323.58×10-3dm3/kg were observed for the pig and the poultry substrates, respectively. A 70% scale-up analysis, modelled from these results, for the nation yield potential emission of about 4 kg CH4(that could be as potent as 84 kg CO2-equivalent) annually. The environmental implications on global warming and possible prospects of recoverable domestic benefits from the waste through the adoption of sustainable policy of livestock waste managements for mitigating the CH4emissions in Nigerian local farms are presented. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.