Are Adaptation Measures Used to Alleviate Heat Stress Appropriate to Reduce Ammonia Emissions?

The emission of ammonia (NH3) is predominantly caused by agriculture, especially by livestock keeping. The health effects of NH3 and the related formation of particulate matter are the reasons for solid efforts to reduce their ambient concentrations. In addition, the impact of global warming on livestock is increasing due to heat stress, likely also increasing NH3 emissions. Therefore, adaptation measures are under discussion to reduce the heat stress of animals inside livestock units. Because of the relationship between temperature increase and NH3 release, the impact of the adaptation measures to cool the indoor air of livestock units (three different energy-saving air preparation systems, an inversion of the feeding and resting times by half a day, a reduction of the stocking density and doubling the maximum volume flow rate) was investigated. The NH3 release was calculated by the following predictors: indoor air temperature; ventilation rate describing the turbulence inside the livestock building; and the diurnal variation caused by the animal activity. These parameters were calculated by a simulation model for the indoor climate of livestock buildings. The monthly mean of the NH3 emission for several adaptation measures, which were applied to reduce heat stress, were compared with the emission of a reference building for 1800 fattening pigs, divided into nine sections with 200 animals each for an all-in-all-out production cycle to calculate the mitigation potential. The higher the cooling power of such adaptation measures, the higher the mitigation potential for NH3. In particular, those adaptation measures which cool the inlet air (e.g., cooling pads reduce the emission by -2%, earth-air heat exchangers by -3.1%) show the best performance to mitigate the NH3 emission of livestock buildings

Reduction of the Economic Risk by Adaptation Measures to Alleviate Heat Stress in Confined Buildings for Growing-Fattening Pigs Modelled by a Projection for Central Europe in 2030

Economic risks for livestock production are caused by volatile commodities and market conditions, but also by environmental drivers such as increasing uncertainties due to weather anomalies and global warming. These risks impact the gross margin of farmers and can stimulate investment decisions. For confined pig and poultry production, farmers can reduce the environmental impact by implementing specific adaptation measures (AMs) to reduce heat stress. A simulation model driven by meteorological data was used to calculate indoor climate for 1981 to 2017. This dataset was extrapolated for a projection in the year 2030. The heat stress was calculated for a business-as-usual livestock building and for several AMs. For 2030, the expected value of the reduction of the gross margin was calculated by EUR 3.98 a(-1) per animal place for the business-as-usual scenario. The results show that only energy-saving adaptation measures to reduce the inlet air temperature are appropriate to reduce the economic risk to the level of the year 1980 between EUR 0.03 a(-1) and EUR 1.02 a(-1) per animal place. The efficiency of other AMs to reduce heat stress is distinctly lower (between EUR 2.62 a(-1) and EUR 3.80 a(-1) per animal place). The results in this study can support the decision making of farmers concerning adaptation management and investments. It can inform agricultural policy design as well as technological development