The potential role of compost in reducing greenhouse gases
- 1 February 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy
- Vol. 26 (1), 61-69
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242x08088584
Abstract
The contribution of the agricultural sector to emissions of climate change gases is becoming better understood. At the same time, the potential role of the sector as a means through which to tackle climate change, widely neglected in the past, is becoming more widely acknowledged. The absorption potential of agricultural soils could contribute significantly to constraining growth in greenhouse gas emissions, while also contributing to improvements in soil quality in some areas. In addition to the measures listed above, other benefits of compost application may have some relevance. Some of these measures include replacement of chemical fertilizers (implying avoidance of greenhouse gases related to their production) reduced use of pesticides (avoiding emissions associated with their production), improved tilth and workability (less consumption of fuels). Typically, life-cycle analyses (LCAs) exhibit limitations related to assessing the effects of `time-limited' carbon sequestration in soils. This has tended to obscure the potentially important effect of composting, in which biogenic carbon is held in soils for a period of time before the carbon is released. The paper seeks to understand these effects and offers comments on the contribution of biological treatments to tackling climate change issues. Key issues include the replacement of fertilizers, reduction of N2O emissions, and peat replacement.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Carbon losses from all soils across England and Wales 1978–2003Nature, 2005
- Emissions of N2O and NO and net nitrogen mineralization in a boreal forested peatland treated with different nitrogen compoundsCanadian Journal of Forest Research, 1998
- Potential for carbon sequestration in European soils: preliminary estimates for five scenarios using results from long‐term experimentsGlobal Change Biology, 1997
- Total carbon and nitrogen in the soils of the worldEuropean Journal of Soil Science, 1996
- Modelling the economic impacts of further mineral processing: The case of Zambia and MoroccoResources Policy, 1993
- Methane flux from drained northern peatlands: Effect of a persistent water table lowering on fluxGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 1993