Climate-Based Suitability Assessment for Methane Mitigation by Water Saving Technology in Paddy Fields of the Central Plain of Thailand

The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) water management technique has been identified as one of the most promising options for mitigating methane (CH$_{4}$) emissions from rice cultivation. By its nature, however, this option is limited only to paddy fields where farmers have sustained access to irrigation water. In addition, large amounts of rainfall often make it difficult to drain water from paddy fields. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the specific conditions and suitability of an area in which AWD is foreseen to be applied before its CH$_{4}$ mitigation potential can be assessed in view of planning regional and national mitigation actions. In this study, we applied a methodology developed for assessing the climatic suitability of AWD to paddy fields in the central plain of Thailand in order to determine the potential spatial and temporal boundaries given by climatic and soil parameters that could impact on the applicability of AWD. Related to this, we also assessed the CH$_{4}$ mitigation potential in the target provinces. Results showed that the entire area of the six target provinces was climatically suitable for AWD in both the major (wet) and second (dry) rice seasons. A sensitivity analysis accounting for uncertainties in soil percolation and suitability classification indicated that these settings did not affect the results of the suitability assessment, although they changed to some extent the distribution of moderate and high climatic suitability areas in the major rice season. Following the methodologies of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines, we estimated that the AWD scenario could reduce annual CH$_{4}$ emissions by 32% compared with the emissions in the baseline (continuously flooded) scenario. The potential of AWD for annual CH$_{4}$ emission reduction was estimated to be 57,600 t CH$_{4}$ year$^{-1}$, equivalent to 1.61 Mt CO$_{2}$-eq year$^{-1}$, in the target provinces. However, we recognize the possibility that other parameters not included in our current approach may significantly influence the suitability of AWD and thus propose areas for further improvement derived from these limitations. All in all, our results will be instrumental in guiding practitioners at all levels involved in water management for rice cultivation

Yield-scaled global warming potential of two irrigation management systems in a highly productive rice system

ABSTRACT Water management impacts both methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from rice paddy fields. Although controlled irrigation is one of the most important tools for reducing CH4emission in rice production systems it can also increase N2O emissions and reduce crop yields. Over three years, CH4 and N2O emissions were measured in a rice field in Uruguay under two different irrigation management systems, using static closed chambers: conventional water management (continuous flooding after 30 days of emergence, CF30); and an alternative system (controlled deficit irrigation allowing for wetting and drying, AWDI). AWDI showed mean cumulative CH4 emission values of 98.4 kg CH4 ha−1, 55 % lower compared to CF30, while no differences in nitrous oxide emissions were observed between treatments ( p > 0.05). No yield differences between irrigation systems were observed in two of the rice seasons ( p > 0.05) while AWDI promoted yield reduction in one of the seasons ( p< 0.05). When rice yield and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions were considered together, the AWDI irrigation system allowed for lower yield-scaled total global warming potential (GWP). Higher irrigation water productivity was achieved under AWDI in two of the three rice seasons. These findings suggest that AWDI could be an option for reducing GHG emissions and increasing irrigation water productivity. However, AWDI may compromise grain yield in certain years, reflecting the importance of the need for fine tuning of this irrigation strategy and an assessment of the overall tradeoff between relationships in order to promote its adoption by farmers

Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (Chapter 7)

The Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector encompasses managed ecosystems and offers significant mitigation opportunities while delivering food, wood and other renewable resources as well as biodiversity conservation, provided the sector adapts to climate change. Land-based mitigation measures represent some of the most important options currently available. They can both deliver carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and substitute for fossil fuels, thereby enabling emissions reductions in other sectors. The rapid deployment of AFOLU measures is essential in all pathways staying within the limits of the remaining budget for a 1.5°C target (high confidence). Where carefully and appropriately implemented, AFOLU mitigation measures are uniquely positioned to deliver substantial co-benefits and help address many of the wider challenges associated with land management. If AFOLU measures are deployed badly then, when taken together with the increasing need to produce sufficient food, feed, fuel and wood, they may exacerbate trade-offs with the conservation of habitats, adaptation, biodiversity and other services. At the same time the capacity of the land to support these functions may be threatened by climate change itself (high confidence)

A review on the global warming potential of cleaner composting and mitigation strategies

With the rapid population growth and industrial development in the fast developing countries, there is a significant increase in the production of waste. For instance, the municipal solid waste in Malaysia is expected to exceed 9 Mt/y by 2020 based on the current production rate of 1 kg−1 person−1. Approximately 90% of the waste is channelled into the landfill that can release a significant amount of greenhouse gases, mainly the methane gas and nitrous oxide gases, due to the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. Composting is a cleaner alternative to landfilling for managing organic waste. Its main advantage lies in its capability to recycle nutrients through compost utilisation. The life cycle assessment has been widely used as a mean of comparison for impact assessment, such as global warming potential, among different waste management technologies. The common inventories accounted for composting include transportation, operational machineries, fugitive emissions during maturation and curing as well as the end production utilisation. There is inconsistency in the methodology adopted to assess its environmental impact. This study discusses on the variations of life cycle assessment that contributed to the different global warming potential of composting. It also discusses on the mitigation strategies to reduce the global warming potential for composting. The highlight of the study is to examine the variation in the inventory analysis for composting, and its underlying mechanism and the critical inventory for a more representative assessment. The second part of the paper reviews the mitigation strategies for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. the use of the bulking agent, aeration system, chemical additives and use of the cover material. This study found that the direct greenhouse gas emissions during composting contribute more significantly to the global warming potential than other direct emissions. The use of bulking agent is desirable to reduce the global warming potential. This study concludes that the assessment of the global warming potential for composting is dependent on the system boundary and the defined functional unit. The environmental impact should be assessed based on the operational mode and the input feedstock to generate a basis with minimised discrepancies among studies. Continuous effort is needed to quantify the long-term benefits of composting on environment, health and soil to further assess its impact as a cleaner process

Climate-Based Suitability Assessment for Methane Mitigation by Water Saving Technology in Paddy Fields of the Central Plain of Thailand

The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) water management technique has been identified as one of the most promising options for mitigating methane (CH4) emissions from rice cultivation. By its nature, however, this option is limited only to paddy fields where farmers have sustained access to irrigation water. In addition, large amounts of rainfall often make it difficult to drain water from paddy fields. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the specific conditions and suitability of an area in which AWD is foreseen to be applied before its CH4 mitigation potential can be assessed in view of planning regional and national mitigation actions. In this study, we applied a methodology developed for assessing the climatic suitability of AWD to paddy fields in the central plain of Thailand in order to determine the potential spatial and temporal boundaries given by climatic and soil parameters that could impact on the applicability of AWD. Related to this, we also assessed the CH4 mitigation potential in the target provinces. Results showed that the entire area of the six target provinces was climatically suitable for AWD in both the major (wet) and second (dry) rice seasons. A sensitivity analysis accounting for uncertainties in soil percolation and suitability classification indicated that these settings did not affect the results of the suitability assessment, although they changed to some extent the distribution of moderate and high climatic suitability areas in the major rice season. Following the methodologies of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines, we estimated that the AWD scenario could reduce annual CH4 emissions by 32% compared with the emissions in the baseline (continuously flooded) scenario. The potential of AWD for annual CH4 emission reduction was estimated to be 57,600 t CH4 year−1, equivalent to 1.61 Mt CO2-eq year−1, in the target provinces. However, we recognize the possibility that other parameters not included in our current approach may significantly influence the suitability of AWD and thus propose areas for further improvement derived from these limitations. All in all, our results will be instrumental in guiding practitioners at all levels involved in water management for rice cultivation

Greenhouse gas emission in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment: a review.

A literature analysis of 158 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals indexed by the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge from 1994 to 2013 showed that CO2C emission was significantly lower in free water surface (FWS) constructed wetlands (CW) than in subsurface flow (SF) CWs (median values from 95.8 to 137.0 mg m&#8722;2h&#8722;1, respectively). In vertical subsurface flow (VSSF) CWs the CH4Cemission was significantly lower than in horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) CWs (median values 3.0, 6.4,and 4.0 mg m&#8722;2h&#8722;1, respectively). There were no significant differences in N2O N emission in various Cw types (median for FWS, VSSF and HSSF CWs: 0.09, 0.12, and 0.13 mg m&#8722;2h&#8722;1correspondingly).The highest value of emission factor (EF) of CH4((CH4C/inflow TOCin) * 100%) was found for FWSCWs (median 18.0%), followed by HSSF CWs (3.8%), and VSSF CWs (1.28%). Median values of N2O EFs((N2O N/inflow TNin) * 100%) differed significantly in all three CW types: 0.34% for HSSF, 0.11% for FWS,and 0.018% for VSSF CWs.We found a significant correlation between TOCin and CH4C emission and between the TNinandN2O N emission values for all of the types of CWs we studied.Hybrid CWs (e.g., the subsequent combination of VSSF, HSSF and FWS CWs) are beneficial from thepoint of view of both water purification and minimization of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Likewise,intermittent loading in VSSF CWs and macrophyte harvesting in HSSF and FWS CWs can mitigate GH Gemissions