Forecast distribution of cattle manure processing technologies in the Russian Federation

To calculate methane and nitrous oxide emissions in livestock farming requires the characteristics of produced manure and its treatment systems per a single farm and the whole region. The study aim is to specify the percentage of cattle manure processing technologies in different natural and climatic conditions of the Russian Federation and to revise the emission factor of greenhouse gases. The survey of cattle complexes established the type and amount of manure produced with a breakdown by moisture content and storage volumes. The study calculated the mass of manure processed according to the applied processing technologies. The study acquired the data on the types of manure collection and storage systems and revealed their ratio by federal districts, in more detail – in the federal subjects with bigger stock of dairy cattle. The obtained ratios allowed adjusting the coefficient required to calculate methane and nitrous oxide emissions. The coefficient reflected the share of emitted nitrogen treated or processed by a certain technology. The study calculated the emissions for cows and cattle (without cows) with the use of the adjusted coefficient and the methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the Northwestern Federal District, which featured the greatest difference between the indicators from the National Inventory and the data obtained in the study. Direct nitrous oxide and methane emission in this District in terms of CO2-eq. according to the Inventory data (2021) was 180.7 thousand t/year; when calculated by the basic distribution of technologies (2021) – 388.7 thousand t/ year; when calculated by the forecast distribution of technologies (2025) – 375.8 thousand t/year. The study results demonstrated that the current tendency to upgrading the manure processing technologies towards the most environmentally friendly and compliant with the principles of best available techniques resulted in reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.