Agricultural Waste System as an Effective Means to Regulate Environmental Pollution from Animal Waste - Research Paper Example

Agricultural Waste System as an Effective Means to Regulate Environmental Pollution from Animal Waste The latter half of the 20th century bears witness to the introduction of technology and industrialization to the traditional animal farm in the United States. Unfortunately, this has caused widespread air pollution and numerous harmful consequences to the environment as well as to human and animal health. The main problem with the industrialized animal farm is the manure or animal waste, as well as other harmful chemicals which are residues of the industrial processes involved. There are actually four major negative effects that these animal wastes and harmful chemicals bring about. The first of these negative effects is the negative confinement of the animals in the farm, which leads to the occurrence of disease and death of the animal populations as well as the consequent increased production of animal wastes and chemicals. Based on the Humane Society of the United States, this is the trend nowadays in animal farms. The space allotted for each animal is getting smaller and smaller, and the same thing goes true in around 450,000 animal farms in the country (An HSUS Report). Although the immediate result of this practice is disease and death of the animals, by-products would naturally include animal wastes and industrial chemical residues that consequently threaten the environment. Secondly, animal waste products pollute the air and the water which is meant for human and animal consumption. With around 500 million tons of animal manure produced from 450,000 animal feeding operations, or AFOs, it is indeed basically inevitable that the air and water near animal farms but meant for human consumption will become almost completely polluted (An HSUS Report). Although it is human health that air and water pollution harms in the long run, such types of pollution are also detrimental to the environment. Thirdly, animal wastes that reach the freshwater areas result in the deaths of more and more aquatic animals. According to 2008 data from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, the current 52% excess phosphorus and 64% excess nitrogen contribute to such deaths (An HSUS Report). Although it is the death of aquatic animals that the phosphorus and the nitrogen residues naturally bring about, the existence of these chemicals as well as other residues are actually significant factors in environmental pollution. Fourthly and most importantly, due to the greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane from industrialized animal farms, the greenhouse effect is naturally expected to worsen. In fact, from 1990 to 2005, methane emissions from pig alone had an increase of 37% and cow manure by 50%, which are actually way above the global warming potential for these chemicals (An HSUS Report). This number is definitely overwhelming and unless measures are being taken now, then greenhouse effect is expected to worsen. Therefore, the proposed solution to the harmful consequences of animal waste production, especially those concerning the environment, is the agricultural waste solution system, or AWS system. This system converts animal wastes into a clean form of energy source as well as clean water. The main problem concerning the industrialization of animal farms is twofold: the animal wastes and the chemical residues. Nevertheless, the AWS system can only remedy the animal wastes aspect, which also greatly contributes to the elimination of the chemical residues (Welcome to Agricultural Wastes Solutions). The AWS system is actually a waste-to-energy system that uses a highly economical way to convert animal waste into energy as well as clean water for irrigation. The entire AWS system consists of a Gas Production Module, or GPM, which has multifold functions that include decreasing the amounts of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides produced by industrial processes, reducing the amounts of CO2 and sulfur, and burns 95% of unwanted solid particles. (Welcome to Agricultural Wastes Solutions). The Solids Recovery Module, which is also a part of the AWS system, has the task of removing 98% of solid particles and removing harmful chemicals from animal wastes that can potentially infect air and water (Welcome to Agricultural Wastes Solutions). The research study aims to answer the following questions: (1) How effective is the AWS system in the treatment of animal wastes from animal farms?; (2) How is the economic aspect of this new technology?; and (3) What are the limitations of the effectiveness of this new technology?. In short, three aspects will be in focus throughout the entire length of research: the effectiveness of the system, the economic aspect, and the limitations. Moreover, a preliminary selection of 6 website and 2 journal articles will be used to establish the hypothesis and to conduct the research itself. More research sources will be used for this paper. The article by Wan Ab Karim Gani et al. somehow sheds light on the possible similarities between the gasification process of plant agricultural wastes and animal agricultural wastes (258). With plant agricultural wastes, there is a great promise of using the processed wastes as a renewable energy source that will eventually replace fossil fuels. Therefore, the processing of animal agricultural wastes is also just as promising, but only if it remains harmless to the environment just as plant agricultural wastes. Moreover, the study by Karellas et al. sheds more light on the economic aspect of the technology of converting agricultural waste into something useful. The biofertilizer produced from plant agricultural wastes indeed proves to be very profitable to farmers (1273). This research will then have to focus on how the same thing can be achieved using animal agricultural wastes. The target research plan will focus on answering the research questions for this paper: the effectiveness, the economic aspect and the limitations of the AWS system. Since this is a new technology, it is expected that very little literature on the specifics of the system is available. Nevertheless, the definite research plan is to find other systems which are similar to this and for which much literature is available. Another method of research is to contact the management of the AWS system website in order to gain more information on these three aspects of the system. Works Cited “An HSUS Fact Sheet: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Animal Agriculture.” 2013. The Humane Society of the United States. 14 Apr 2013. “An HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment.” 2013. The Humane Society of the United States. 14 Apr 2013. “Environmental Impact of Animal Waste: Disposal of Animal Waste in Large-Scale Swine Production Examined.” 2011. Science Daily. 15 Apr 2013. Karellas, Sotirios, Ioannis Boukis & Georgios Kontopoulos. “Development of an investment decision tool for biogas production from agricultural waste.” 2010. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14 (1273-1282). Martin, Robert P. “Big farms can be bad for your health.” 2008. The Salt Lake Tribune. 12 Apr 2013. Wan Ab Karim Ghani, W. A., Reza Alipour Moghadam, M. A. Mohd Salleh & A. B. Alias. “Air Gasification of Agricultural Waste in a Fluidized Bed Gasifier: Hydrogen Production Performance.” 2009. Energies, 2 (258-268). “Welcome to Agricultural Wastes Solutions, Inc.” 2013. AWS. 13 Apr 2013. “What’s the Problem?” 2011. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 13 Apr 2013. Research Proposal TO: [instructor] FROM: [student] DATE: [due date] RE: Proposal for a Research Paper on ______________________ Background [Provide a brief paragraph concerning how you decided to choose this particular topic. Mention your current knowledge of the subject matter.] The 450,000 animal farms in the United States produce a huge volume of wastes every year and the problem here is the lack of control and faulty management. These wastes result in the occurrence of diseases as well as deaths of animals in the farm. Some of the wastes may also pollute the air and the water, thus endangering human and animal consumers. A third consequence of the lack of control of animal wastes is the death of aquatic animals when these wastes reach the freshwater areas. Lastly, a fourth consequence is the greenhouse gases coming from the wastes. The solution to all these therefore may be the agricultural waste solution system, or the AWS system. This consists of converting animal wastes into a clean form of energy like clean water. This system basically consists of a Gas Production Module that decreases the amount of oxides produced, and a Solids Recovery Module, which removes around 98% of harmful chemicals and solids from animal wastes. Research Questions 1) How effective is the AWS system in the treatment of animal wastes from animal farms? 2) How is the economic aspect of this new technology? 3) What are the limitations of the effectiveness of this new technology? Tentative Resources “An HSUS Fact Sheet: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Animal Agriculture.” 2013. The Humane Society of the United States. 14 Apr 2013. “An HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment.” 2013. The Humane Society of the United States. 14 Apr 2013. “Environmental Impact of Animal Waste: Disposal of Animal Waste in Large-Scale Swine Production Examined.” 2011. Science Daily. 15 Apr 2013. Karellas, Sotirios, Ioannis Boukis & Georgios Kontopoulos. “Development of an investment decision tool for biogas production from agricultural waste.” 2010. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14 (1273-1282). Martin, Robert P. “Big farms can be bad for your health.” 2008. The Salt Lake Tribune. 12 Apr 2013. Wan Ab Karim Ghani, W. A., Reza Alipour Moghadam, M. A. Mohd Salleh & A. B. Alias. “Air Gasification of Agricultural Waste in a Fluidized Bed Gasifier: Hydrogen Production Performance.” 2009. Energies, 2 (258-268). “Welcome to Agricultural Wastes Solutions, Inc.” 2013. AWS. 13 Apr 2013. “What’s the Problem?” 2011. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 13 Apr 2013. Research Plan More research sources will be used for this paper. Some of the research sources to be used include the websites listed above as well as various journal articles. The target research plan will focus on answering the research questions for this paper: the effectiveness, the economic aspect and the limitations of the AWS system. Since this is a new technology, it is expected that very little literature on the specifics of the system is available. Nevertheless, the definite research plan is to find other systems which are similar to this and for which much literature is available. Another method of research is to contact the management of the AWS system website in order to gain more information on these three aspects of the system. Read More