Organic material used for biogas production can also undergo other treatments. The emissions and impact from the different treatments are evaluated in this environmental assessment, with a focus on energy and climate. The materials included in the study are organic household waste, slaughterhouse waste and liquid Manure. Other than biogas production, the possible treatments for organic household waste and slaughterhouse waste are incineration and composting, and for liquid Manure storing and spreading. The analysis is based on data and information from current and relevant literature, and relates to the conditions in the Swedish energy system.

A variety of food is produced and passes the whole chain by processing, transport and trade and finally it ends up with the consumer. But in many cases, the food is disposed before it is eaten. Some of the produced food does not even pass the whole entire chain before it turns to waste. The question about food waste in debates is a case of access to food for every human beeing. It is question of consumption of the resources, waste management and an issue of environmental impact.

Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to the global warming. One of the largest sources of methane is livestock, preferably ruminants which alone counted for 30% of the total agricultural anthropogenic methane emissions in the year of 2000. The reason to why ruminants are such large contributors of methane are that the gas is produced in the rumen by enteric formation and leaves the animals by belching, exhaling or by the excreta.Diets high in concentrates can result in a lower emission of methane. Also diets with a high content of starch, such as alfalfa-grass, have a methane-decreasing. It is profitable to reduce enteric methane formation since that form of methane is unavoidably lost.

Fossil fuels are affecting our climate negatively and there is a limited amount of them in the world, which leads to the importance of finding alternative fuels. One alternative is biogas, which is produced though a digestion process of different organic materials in a biogasreactor. Organic substrate that comes from farms has the biggest potential to increase the production of biogas in Sweden. Primarily crops from farms, but also waste products like Manure are of great importance.Today there is a calculated theoretical potential for biogasproduction of 14TWh per year, which is around ten times larger than Sweden?s production today.

Aquaponics is a food production system consisting of a consecutive cultivation of plants and aquatic animals, fish or shellfish, in recirculating water. The plants feed on the nutritious effluents from the fish tank and bacteria converts ammonia from the fish tank into nitrate that is absorbed by the plants. The plants receive nutrition and the fish gain purified water. The environmental impact of the production of fish meal and fish oil used in conventional fish feed includes a large consumption of fossil fuels with subsequent carbon dioxide emission. The aquaponic system can be made environmentally sustainable and self-supporting if supplemented with a vermicompost/vermiculture for the production of worm protein as a fish feed. Vegetable waste from the hydroponic part of the system can be reused as worm feed in the compost and the protein rich worms can be harvested, dried and grinded and brought back to the aquaculture as fish feed. As a first step in this direction, I have investigated the effect of recycling of vegetable waste in vermicomposts on the growth and number of earthworms (this was evaluated after harvesting). The hypotheses were that earthworms can be cultivated in the vegetable waste and that by adding Manure to the vermicompost it is possible to obtain a nutrient content adequate to support a continuous worm harvest, in other words create a vermiculture. Eisenia fetida and Dendrobaena veneta were grown in 20 L bins containing peat mixed with either poultry or cattle Manure. The proportions were 70% peat and 30 % Manure. Discarded plant parts from lettuce cultivation was added to the vermicomposts (35 g per week) and water was supplied with 0.8 L per week.

Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen iKulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design, 15 hp, 2015.

Fossil fuels are affecting our climate negatively and there is a limited amount of them in the world, which leads to the importance of finding alternative fuels. One alternative is biogas, which is produced though a digestion process of different organic materials in a biogasreactor. Organic substrate that comes from farms has the biggest potential to increase the production of biogas in Sweden. Primarily crops from farms, but also waste products like Manure are of great importance.Today there is a calculated theoretical potential for biogasproduction of 14TWh per year, which is around ten times larger than Sweden?s production today.

Healthy, natural pastures is very valuable for biodiversity in the form of both plants and animals. An efficient use of pastures helps to preserve biodiversity, but grazing animals needs to be de-wormed to keep them healthy and to prevent harmful parasites spread on the pasture. The awareness about the environmental impact of the frequent use of deworming agents is low among the public. Some people are unaware that the absorption in horses of anthelmintics is incomplete, which make the circumstances about enviromental effect important to investigate further. The scientific evidence in this area is limited and more studies and trials are needed to deepen the knowledge about the effects of anthelmintics in the environment.

About 80 % of all Swedish dairy cows are kept in tie-stalls, but loose housing is increasing, probably because it is more profitable for the farmer. The design of the floors is of cruicial importance to the cows well-being. Traditionally, the most common type of floor in the alleys of a cubicle system still is a slatted Manure-draining floor made of concrete. The typical Swedish design has 125-mm slats and 40-mm slots, maximally. With too wide slots, there is an increased risk of injuries to the claws when the cow makes a hasty move.

AbstractThe dependency of fossil fuels in the transport sector causes large emissions of carbondioxide. This problem can we reduce by using vehicle gas from digested solid Manure and leftover of pasture. I have studied the potential for this in the county of Västernorrland. Thepurpose is to investigate how much vehicle gas that can be extracted.One central, large scale digestion and upgrade plant should be placed in Härnösand. Theamount of pasture and Manure that is economical and practical available is enough to produce2,7-3,5 millions Nm3 vehicle gas.

Peat litter has been used in animal houses for a long time. Because of its good ability to absorb liquid and nutrients from the Manure it can create a dry surface for animals and a valuable Manure product. Through changes in agricultural practises the use of peat litter has diminished and is to a great extent replaced by straw, sawdust and cutter shavings although Sweden is rich in peat-findings. The aim of this work was to summarize the presented knowledge about the used of peat litter, techniques, advantages and disadvantages and to compare with other commonly used litter materials. Articles on peat litter have been searched for in magazines, databases and books at SLU library. Visits to peat industries, interviews with peat producers and with peat researchers contributed to the material. Peat is not a uniformly material.

To produce milk of good standard the feed for the animals kept for milk production is an important part in the work of quality. This makes it important to feed them with good forage, especially when feeding with silage. The process of making silage is very complex and requires a careful handling to be successful. The fundamental idea is to create an anaerobic environment in the herbage to favour the desirable micro-organisms, in this case the lactic acid bacteria. This environment is created by careful handlings were the importance is to pack the crop well and cover it as soon as possible to exclude oxygen.

Within agriculture it is important to optimize the use of nitrogen, not only from an economic point of view but also to minimize damage to the environment. This can sometimes be difficult, especially within organic farming. Organic farmers are using increasing amounts of waste products from the food industry to cover their nitrogen needs. These different organic fertilizers release nitrogen at different rates and under specific soil conditions. Because of this, it would be beneficial to have a standardized method to measure the amount and rate of nitrogen mineralization from organic fertilizers. This project contributes to this knowledge by investigating whether relatively simple and repeatable laboratory methods can be used to estimate the nitrogen fertilizer value of organic fertilizers.

Summary The size of the Swedish dairy farms increases and also the demands for rational manage-ment of the herd without affecting the animal welfare enhance. One way to handle the Manure in the cow shed alleys is to have automatic scrapers. In this system the scraper has to get rid of the Manure somewhere. The most common way of doing that today is to let the scraper deliver the Manure under some kind of gate or covering over the Manure culvert. When the scraper goes under the gate or the covering there is a risk of squeezing animals and farmer.

The aim of the study was to install a biogas system consisting of three tubular polyethylene biogas digesters at a rural household in Malawi and to evaluate the constructed biogas system with regards to relevant system parameters. The purpose was to evaluate if the technology is a possible solution to reduce deforestation and support Malawi in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study was carried out in the southern part of Malawi in cooperation with the University of Malawi. Locally available materials were used to construct and install the system. Three different feed materials, cow, goat and a mix of cow and goat Manure, were used in order to determine which one was best suited to utilise as a digester substrate. After the installation, measurements of temperature, pH, biogas production, biogas composition and system functionality were made. The results of the study show that a biogas system with tubular polyethylene biogas digesters can be successfully installed at a rural household and that the most suitable feed material is a mix of cow and goat Manure.