Reimagining Manure: Innovative Alternatives for Modern Agriculture

The management of manure, an organic waste stream from agricultural production, is a significant source of methane emissions, accounting for 4% of all anthropogenic emissions according to CCAC's 2021 Global Methane Assessment. Recent studies estimate that methane emissions from manure management might be underreported. These emissions arise when manure is stored in wet conditions, such as lagoons, slurry tanks, and pits. These wet storage methods create anaerobic, oxygen-depleted conditions that drive methane production. Improving manure management practices, particularly by adopting alternatives to storing manure in anaerobic conditions, is critical to reducing manure management emissions.

While anaerobic digesters have received significant attention for mitigating methane, this focus can overshadow other cost-effective strategies for reducing methane emissions from manure management. Alternatives such as composting, solar drying, frequent manure removal, solid-liquid separation, acidification, and aeration can play a critical role. These approaches may offer economic benefits to producers, including reduced storage requirements and lower transportation costs. However, most methane reduction solutions come with significant trade-offs. If not properly implemented, they can lead to increased nitrous oxide emissions. Additionally, these technologies often require investments in infrastructure and adjustments to baseline farming practices, which can be barriers to adoption.

Objectives

In this webinar, we will explore a range of cost-effective strategies to reduce methane emissions from manure management, a critical interface between agricultural practices and organic waste mitigation. We will go beyond anaerobic digesters, examine key trade-offs, including the risk of increasing other potent emissions, and the need for infrastructure change. The webinar will provide case studies on these technologies and approaches in both developed and developing country contexts. 

We will hear from experts from the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) who will talk about the most promising and scalable best practices and alternatives to manure management in developed and developing country contexts.
 

Agenda

• Martin Kerres, PREVENT Waste Alliance, Welcome and Opening Remarks
• Swati Hegde, Manager (WRI)
• Mindi DePaola, Senior Manager (EDF)
• Akin Olumoroti, Senior Analyst (EDF)
• Gregory Kohler, CCAC Agriculture Expert, Moderator

Webinar Recording

Swati Hegde, WRI

• Commercial farms expansion in developing countries: "manure is increasingly stored in lagoons or tanks as slurry, leading to higher methane emissions. This presents an opportunity to adopt mitigation technologies like solid-liquid separation, manure acidification, or aeration to reduce methane emissions significantly early on.
   

• Methane reduction and benefits to soil health and water quality: "Simple practices like using storage covers or drying manure can reduce methane for smallholder farms. However, from a practical standpoint, the issue needs to be addressed more holistically by linking better feed and manure management, encouraging community-based efforts, and exploring innovative, locally appropriate solutions. These strategies could also benefit soil health, fertilizer use, and water quality."

   

Mindi de Paola, EDF

• Manure management solutions and tradeoffs: "In certain systems, manure is a major cause of methane emissions. There are manure management solutions that can be implemented to avoid or destroy methane but there are tradeoffs for each, including improved field application, solid-liquid separation, and cap and flare systems."
   
• Co-creating solutions with communities and farmers:  "Innovative and effective policies are needed to help farmers implement these solutions. At the same time, there are best practices that can be implemented around co-creating solutions with communities and farmers to ensure more robust solution sets move forward. Clear communication and trust between everyone who is affected or may be affected by manure management is imperative to provide factual information and make climate smart practices more successful."

PRESENTATIONS