Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction through Production and Utilization of Biogas from Pig Manure: Case Study for Zambia

Kaoma, Mwansa (2013) Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction through Production and Utilization of Biogas from Pig Manure: Case Study for Zambia. Masters thesis, University of Zambia.

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Abstract

The before-and-after study design (also known as the pre and post-test design) was carried out with objectives of (i) determining the potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with changing pig manure management systems from the use of slurry pits (baseline emissions) to anaerobic digesters (post-digester emissions) (ii) comparing the use of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 method to the direct emissions measurement method in determining manure management emissions (iii) determining the potential biogas production from a small, medium and large scale farm (piggery) to meet farm energy needs. Data used to achieve these objectives were obtained from six case study farms in Lusaka, Chongwe, Choma, Chilanga, Chibombo and Chisamba districts, of Zambia. These farms were purposively sampled based on good farm management and record keeping systems and data was collected over a period of six months (one month on each farm). Data on potential reduction in GHG emissions and potential biogas production calculations were performed using Microsoft Excel spread sheets, whilst the parameters gross energy intake (GE) and digestibility in the feed were determined using EvaPig software (version 1.3.0.4). The baseline and post-digester emissions from the farm in Lusaka district were 1713.4 kg CO2eq per month and 699.3 kg CO2eq per month, respectively signifying a GHG emissions reduction of 59.2 percent, while baseline and post-digester emissions for the farm in Chongwe district were 1689.3 kg CO2eq per month and 566.8 kg CO2eq per month, respectively signifying a GHG emissions reduction of 66 percent. The baseline and post-digester emissions from the farm in Choma district were 304.1 and 103.7 kg CO2 eq per month, respectively signifying a GHG emissions reduction of 65.9.percent. Findings on comparison of the use of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 method to direct emissions measurement method in determining manure management emissions showed that there were discrepancies between the baseline and post-digester emissions obtained using the IPCC Tier 2 and those obtained using thedirect emission measurement method. The discrepancy was 16.47 percent for baseline emissions whilst that of the post-digester emissions was 10.15 percent. Findings on the potential biogas production to meet the energy needs for a small, medium and large scale piggery indicated that all the three piggeries had potential to meet their energy needs. Thus, findings of the study suggested that biogas technology had the potential to reduce manure GHG emissions when used as a manure management practice on livestock farms in Zambia and could improve the livelihoods, particularly of the rural communities, by addressing the energy challenges of the rural sector.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2018 12:32
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2018 12:32
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/8677

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