Experts discuss methods for reducing greenhouse gases in animal husbandry
In animal husbandry, gases are produced that can damage the climate: The greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide have a much stronger effect than carbon dioxide. Experts from the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection NRW (LANUV) and the Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft (KTBL) explained the data basis and methodology for producing the greenhouse gas emission inventory. Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Südekum and Dr. med. Joachim Clemens from the University of Bonn also addressed the reduction in emissions from animal husbandry and emissions from biogas plants. It became clear that the reliable recording of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and the evaluation of various mitigation measures requires further investigation. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Büscher from the University of Bonn presented in this connection a measuring concept planned in the dairy cattle shed of the test house "Haus Riswick" of the Chamber of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia. Here, long-term studies on emission reduction are to be carried out, with which, for example, the influence of feeding and housing conditions is determined.
In the discussion, the experts agreed that a reduction in methane excretion from ruminants, for example through feed additives, is only possible to a limited extent. However, reduction potential is seen in nitrous oxide emissions. The formation of greenhouse gases in livestock farming can be reduced by consistently implementing measures based on good professional practice, such as customized feeding, stable hygiene and manure management.
Experts from LANUV, the Baden-Württemberg State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation and from North Rhine-Westphalian approval authorities also discussed the current status in the assessment of bioaerosols as part of approval procedures. Bioaerosols are fine particles of biological origin, consisting of, for example, pollen, fungal spores, bacteria as well as their components and metabolic products (e.g. endotoxins). They occur naturally in the air, but are also created by animal husbandry systems. In new barns, this often triggers local residents' concerns about health problems. It became clear that there are indications of health impairment due to bioaerosols in the area of animal husbandry systems, but there is a lack of reliable knowledge about their dispersion behavior and health-related limit values. There was a consensus that the existing knowledge gaps must be closed before binding limit and threshold values can be set in the approval process.
The workshop series of the research network NRW-Agrar is to be continued in the coming year with a focus on technical options for reducing emissions. Members of the research network are the ministries for the environment and nature conservation, agriculture and consumer protection as well as for innovation, research and technology in North Rhine-Westphalia, the agricultural economics department of the University of Applied Sciences South Westphalia, the agricultural faculty of the University of Bonn, the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture and the State Office for Nature , Environment and consumer protection North Rhine-Westphalia.
Source: Bonn [munlv]
