FERMENTATION AS A ONE OF THE POSSIBILIETES OF GHG AND AMMONIA MITIGATION FROM DAIRY FARMING

Abstract

Diary production is steadily increasing worldwide, as evidenced by a 1.6% increase in milk production. Cattle headcount in Europe amounts to 75.6 mln, with Poland heaving more than 10% of the EU population. Such a significant production is yielding massive waste and animal by products, mainly cow manure. Storage and utilization of these byproducts may result in unwanted emissions of greenhouse gasses such as methane, carbon dioxide, and other potentially dangerous compounds like ammonia. Proper manure management and utilization of animal by-products and carcasses could successfully mitigate GHG emissions. One of the main means of utilization that could be implemented in Poland is the fermentation process and biogas production. Such an approach is beneficial not only due to energy production but also because of fertilizer production in form of digestate. To allow and maximize this process deep investigation is necessary, because of the different properties of a vast type of products, for example, the biogas yield of by-products ranges from 20 to more than 500 m3 of biogas per Mg. Because of that, the fermentation process of the above-mentioned materials must be properly conducted. Mainly substrate mix and process prosperities must be carefully assessed. In this paper, the steps necessary to implement mentioned solution will be presented as well as projected outcomes.