Nitrous oxide emissions from milking production - system boundary farm

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Büscher
• Subject Area: Plant Cultivation, Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Technology
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 243775296

Against the backdrop of climate change, its causes and dynamics, the contribution of cattle farming is discussed controversially. But for a comprehensive assessment are not only the methane emissions and the process energy important; also the nitrous oxide emissions are very significant and shouldn't be disregarded because of the strong climate relevance. However the knowledge about formation, release and emission of nitrous oxide from the biotechnical system "milk production on the farm" are sketchy.Hence the superior aim of this project proposal is to capture the action of nitrous oxide emissions in barn as well as the upstream and downstream of the areas (for example from feed and the organic waste). To this measurements are planned on stable-level and emission-active subareas of the entire system. From the findings, a model for emissions forecast should be created and measures to reduction of nitrous oxide emissions should be investigated and validated.For the investigations on stable-level, the at the Institute of Agriculture Engineering developed measuring methods to determine the increase of concentration and the air flow volume should be applied and developed further for the component 'nitrous oxide'.For this purpose, a sampling technique with vacuumed glass containers should be integrated into the measurement concept, so that a quasi-continuous sampling can be realized. The concentration determination will take place time-delayed by gas chromatography in the laboratory.At the investigations of the emission active subareas the gas samples are carried out with a proven hood technology ("closed chamber" method).The concentration measurements at laboratory level are also held in collaboration with the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES) of the University of Bonn.The gained findings form the database to calculate the total greenhouse gas emissions from milk production and to prove mitigation measures for nitrous oxide in practice.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants