A French inventory of gaseous emissions (CH4, N2O, NH3) from livestock manure management using a mass-flow approach

A new methodology based on (1) national data concerning livestock and rearing practices and (2) a mass-flow approach was developed to quantify ammonia (NH₃), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions resulting from manure management in France. A literature review was performed to determine emission factors for each animal type and each management stage. A Microsoft Access® database containing these emission factors, the census data and manure compositions was then developed, allowing the calculation of gaseous emissions by the mass-flow approach. From this database, a national gas emissions inventory resulting from manure management was drawn up for the year 2003. Total NH₃ emissions were estimated at 382 kt N, mainly arising from cattle (72%). Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 14.0 Tg CO₂-eq. for N₂O and 10.2 Tg CO₂-eq. for CH₄. Most of the N₂O emissions occurred after the deposition of manure on soil during cattle grazing, while the CH₄ was mainly produced during the period where cattle manure remained in livestock buildings and in outside storage facilities. Moreover, an evaluation of the uncertainty was performed considering the standard deviation obtained for the emission factors.