Evaluation of Emissions and Environmental Impacts of Dairy Farms Excrement Disposal Methods by IPCC Guidelines

The growth of livestock production and the development of livestock farms increases the production of by-products, including livestock waste, which leads to destructive environmental effects. Paying attention to waste management methods has a beneficial effect in reducing the amount of environmental effects. The present study was performed by practical data collection from 4 farms with different methods of waste disposal. The tables and recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were used to estimate emissions levels. The obtained data were processed with Simapro software to calculate the environmental indicators of disposal methods. Based on the results, in the management method of waste collection in lagoon, the final environmental index was the lowest as 0.706 per ton of waste. In the depot method for dry mass and using part of it as animal bed, the obtained index was the highest with 1.379. Among the environmental effects and indicators, the effect of the global warming group in all farms was greater than the effect of other groups. Despite the high production of methane in the storage method in the lagoon, due to the production of nitrous oxide gas in the drying method and especially the use of dry waste in the animal bed, these methods had a greater effect of global warming. By managing waste through anaerobic digestion and methane collection, environmental effects can be reduced and energy benefits can be used.