Mitigating Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions from Beef Cattle Feedlot Production: A System Meta-Analysis

Wang, Y. and Li, X. and Yang, J. and Tian, Z. and Sun, Q. and Xue, W. and Dong, H.

Environ Sci Technol (2018) 52: 11232–11242

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02475

Abstract

Beef cattle production systems are the largest contributors of greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH(3)) emissions in the livestock industry. Here, we present the first meta-analysis and integrated assessment of gaseous emissions and mitigation potentials for a typical beef cattle feedlot system, including methane (CH(4)), nitrous oxide (N(2)O), and NH(3) losses from enteric fermentation and manure management based on data from 104 studies. A total of 14 integrated emission factors (EF) and the mitigation efficiencies (ME) of 17 available options were provided. The estimated GHG and NH(3) emissions from the baseline feedlot system were 2786 ± 108 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO(2)-eq) per animal unit (AU) per year and 49.1 ± 1.5 kg NH(3) AU(-1) year(-1), respectively. Enteric CH(4) fermentation and manure on the feedlot contributed 67.5% and 80.8% of the total system GHG and NH(3) emissions, respectively. The highest ME values were found for lipid additives for enteric CH(4) fermentation and urease inhibitor additives (UI) for NH(3) emissions from manure on the feedlot, being -14.9% ( p \textless 0.05) and -59.5% ( p \textless 0.001), respectively. The recommended mitigation combinations of a low-crude-protein (CP) diet and a UI additive for manure on the feedlot could reduce the GHG of the system by 4.9% and NH(3) by 50.9%. The results of this study have important implications for developing sustainable beef cattle feedlot systems from the viewpoint of GHG and NH(3) mitigation.

Citation

Wang, Y., Li, X., Yang, J., Tian, Z., Sun, Q., Xue, W., & Dong, H. (2018). Mitigating Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions from Beef Cattle Feedlot Production: A System Meta-Analysis. Environ Sci Technol, 52(19), 11232–11242. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b02475 Animals, Cattle, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Ammonia, Manure, *Red Meat, *Greenhouse Gases, Greenhouse Effect

Keywords

• Animals
• Cattle
• Methane
• Nitrous Oxide
• Ammonia
• Manure
• *Red Meat
• *Greenhouse Gases
• Greenhouse Effect