Towards the circular nitrogen economy - A global meta-analysis of composting technologies reveals much potential for mitigating nitrogen losses.

Clicks: 215
ID: 71059
2019
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #547 of 637 articles by views in The Science of the total environment

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 637 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Composting is an important technology to treat biowastes and recycle nutrients, but incurs nitrogen (N) losses that lower the value of the final products and cause pollution. Technologies aimed at reducing N losses during composting have inconsistent outcomes. To deepen insight into mitigation options, we conducted a global meta-analysis based on 932 observations from 121 peer-reviewed published studies. Overall, N losses averaged 31.4% total N (TN), 17.2% NH-N, and 1.4% NO-N, with NH-N accounting for 55% of TN losses. The primary drivers affecting N losses were composting method, type of biowaste, and duration of composting. N losses were significantly impacted by the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio of the input materials (feedstock of nutrient dense biowastes and C-rich bulking agents), moisture content and pH. Our analysis revealed N-conserving optima with C/N ratios of 25-30, 60-65% moisture content and pH 6.5-7.0. In situ mitigation technologies that control feedstock and processing conditions reduced average N losses by 31.4% (TN), 35.4% (NH-N) and 35.8% (NO-N). Biochar and magnesium-phosphate salts emerged as the most effective N-conserving strategies, curbing losses of TN by 30.2 and 60.6%, NH by 52.6 and 69.4%, and NO by 66.2 and 35.4% respectively. We conclude that existing technologies could preserve ~0.6 Tg of biowaste-N globally, which equates to 16% of the chemical N-fertilizer used in African croplands, or 39% of the annual global increases of 1.58 Tg fertilizer-N. However, the adoption of N-conserving technologies is constrained by a lack of knowledge of best practice, suitable infrastructure, policies and receptive markets. To realize an N-conserving composting industry that supports sustainable practices and the circular nitrogen economy, stakeholders have to act collectively. Benefits will include lowering direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture, and facilitating the recarbonization of soils.
Reference Key
zhao2019towardsthe Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Zhao, Shuaixiang;Schmidt, Susanne;Qin, Wei;Li, Ji;Li, Guoxue;Zhang, Weifeng;
Journal The Science of the total environment
Year 2019
DOI
S0048-9697(19)35394-X
URL
Keywords
biowaste recycling circular nitrogen economy composting technology nitrogen emission factor nitrogen loss mitigation

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.