Nitrous Oxide Emissions and the Anthropogenic Nitrogen in Wastewater and Solid Waste
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 2
Abstract
In the 20th century, human interference in the nitrogen cycle has caused a doubling of the global nitrogen fixation rate (an element critical in the proteins of all organisms), thereby intensifying global nitrous oxide production during microbial nitrification and denitrification. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas, important in climate change, and as well, is a stratospheric ozone-depleting substance. It is likely that much of the Earth’s population now relies on anthropogenic nitrogen in its food supplies, resulting in anthropogenic nitrogen contained in wastes requiring management. Food production is considered as a source of global nitrous oxide emissions; however, the nitrogen in wastewater and solid wastes may be a significant fate of much anthropogenic nitrogen. This factor has largely escaped in-depth, critical analysis from the perspective of nitrous oxide emissions. This paper introduces nitrogen cycling and nitrous oxide production and reviews the research currently available on emissions from wastewater treatment operations, landfilling, composting, and incineration; demonstrating that each process can emit large amounts of this important gas. This is followed by a discussion of the limited research. The relative importance of in waste management is also estimated, indicating that wastewater treatment may be the most important operation for managing anthropogenic nitrogen in wastes.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Abbatt, J. P. D., and Molina, M. J.(1993). “Status of stratospheric ozone depletion.” Annu. Rev. Energy Environ., 18, 1–29.
Ayres, R. U., Schlesinger, W. H., and Socolow, R. H. (1994). “Human impacts on the carbon and nitrogen cycles.” Industrial ecology and global change, R. Socolow, C. Andrews, F. Berkhout and V. Thomas, eds., Cambridge University Press, New York, 121–155.
Bakken, L. R., and Bleken, M. A.(1998). “Temporal aspects of N enrichment and emission of to the atmosphere.” Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 52, 107–121.
Ballestero, T. P., and Douglas, E.(1996). “Comparison between the nitrogen fluxes from composting farm wastes and composting yard wastes.” Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Eng., 39(5), 1709–1715.
Barton, P. K., Bird, D. N., and Atwater, J. W. (1999). “Composting: An action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions?” Proc. Int. Composting Symposium, Halifax, Canada, September 19–23, 1999.
Beauchamp, E. G.(1997). “Nitrous oxide emission from agricultural soils.” Can. J. Soil Sci., 77(2), 113–123.
Beline, F., Martinez, J., Chadwick, D., Guiziou, F., and Coste, C. M.(1999). “Factors affecting nitrogen transformations and related nitrous oxide emissions from aerobically treated piggery slurry.” J. Agric. Eng. Res., 73, 235–243.
Bleken, M. A., and Bakken, L. R. (1996). “Losses and flows of nitrogen in the Norwegian society.” Progress in nitrogen cycling studies, O. Van Cleemput, G. Hofman, and A. Vermoesen, eds., Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 527–531.
Bleken, M. A., and Bakken, L. R.(1997). “The nitrogen cost of food production: Norwegian society.” Ambio, 26(3), 134–142.
Börjesson, G., and Svensson, B. H.(1997). “Nitrous oxide emissions from landfill cover soils in Sweden.” Tellus, 49B, 357–363.
Cowling, E., Erisman, J. W., Smeulders, S. M., Holman, S. C., and Nicholson, B. M.(1998). “Optimizing air quality management in Europe and North America: Justification for integrated management of both oxidised and reduced forms of nitrogen.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 599–608.
Crutzen, P. J., and Ehhalt, D. H.(1977). “Effects of nitrogen fertilizers and combustion on the stratospheric ozone layer.” Ambio, 6(2–3), 112–117.
Czepiel, P., Douglas, E., Harriss, R., and Crill, P.(1996). “Measurements of from composted organic wastes.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 30(8), 2519–2525.
Czepiel, P., Crill, P., and Harriss, R.(1995). “Nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 29(9), 2352–2356.
De Kimpe, C. R., and MacDonald, K. B.(1998). “Making the link between science and policy: controlling N losses from agriculture in Canada.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 763–769.
de Soete, G. (1993). “Nitrous oxide from combustion and industry: chemistry, emissions, and control.” Proc. Int. IPCC Workshop on Methane and Nitrous Oxide: Methods in National Emissions Inventories and Options for Control, A. R. van Amstel, ed., RIVM Report No. 481507003, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, 287–337.
Erisman, J. W., Brydges, T., Bull, K., Cowling, E., Grennfelt, P., Nordberg, L., Satake, K., Schneider, T., Smeulders, S., Van der Hoek, K. W., Wisniewski, J. R., and Wisniewski, J.(1998). “Summary statement—first international nitrogen conference.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 3–12.
Ferm, M.(1998). “Atmospheric Ammonia and Ammonium Transport in Europe and Critical Loads: A Review.” Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 51, 5–17.
Firestone, M. K., and Davidson, E. A. (1989). “Microbiological basis of NO and production and consumption in soil.” Exchange of trace gases between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, M. O. Andrae and D. S. Schimel, eds., Wiley, New York, 7–21.
Galloway, J. N.(1998). “The global nitrogen cycle: Changes and consequences.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 15–24.
Galloway, J. N., Schlesinger, W. H., Levy, H. II, Michaels, A., and Schnoor, J. L.(1995). “Nitrogen fixation: anthropogenic enhancement—environmental response.” Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 9(2), 235–252.
Hanaki, K., Hong, Z., and Matsuo, T.(1992). “Production of nitrous oxide gas during denitrification of wastewater.” Water Sci. Technol. 26(5–6), 1027–1036.
Hellebrand, H. J.(1998). “Emission of nitrous oxide and other trace gases during composting of grass and green waste.” J. Agric. Eng. Res., 69, 365–375.
Hellmann, B. (1995). Freisetzung klimarelevanter Spurengase in Bereichen mit hoher Akkumulation von Biomassen. Abschlußbericht fur die Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, (Release of Greenhouse Gases in Areas of High Accumulation of Biomass. Research Report for the German Foundation for Environment). Osnabruck: Zeller Verlag;
in: Hellebrand, H. J.(1998). “Emission of nitrous oxide and other trace gases during composting of grass and green waste.” J. Agric. Eng. Res., 69, 365–375.
Henderson, J. P., and Atwater, J. W.(1995). “High ammonia landfill leachate treatment using anaerobic filter and rotating biological contactor.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 22, 992–1000.
Hong, Z., Hanaki, K., and Matsuo, T.(1993). “Greenhouse gas- production during denitrification in wastewater treatment.” J. Water Sci. Technol., 28(7), 203–207.
Hooper, A. B. (1984). “Ammonium oxidation and energy transduction in the nitrifying bacteria.” Microbial chemoautotrophy, W. R. Strohl and O. H. Tuovinen, eds., Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio, 133–169.
Hutchinson, G. L., and Davidson, E. A. (1993). “Processes for production and consumption of gaseous nitrogen oxides in soil.” Agricultural Ecosystem Effects on Trace Gases and Global Climate Change, G. A. Peterson, P. B. Baenziger, and R. J. Lawrence, eds., American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis. 79–93.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (1995). Climate change 1995: The science of climate change. Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Second Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (IPCC). (1997). Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. three volumes, Paris, France
Isermann, K., and Isermann, R.(1998). “Food production and consumption in Germany: N flows and N emissions.” Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 52, 298–301.
Jaques, A., Neitzert, F., and Boileau, P. (1997). Trends in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions (1990–1995), Environment Canada Report No. En 49-5/5-8E.
Johnsson, J. E.(1994). “Formation and reduction of nitrogen oxides in fluidized-bed combustion.” Fuel, 73(9), 1398–1415.
Kimochi, Y., Inamori, Y., Mizuochi, M., Xu, K., and Matsumura, M.(1998). “Nitrogen removal and emission in a full-scale domestic wastewater treatment plant with intermittent aeration.” J. Ferment. Bioeng., 86(2), 202–206.
Kinzig, A. P., and Socolow, R. H. (1994). “Human impacts on the nitrogen cycle.” Phys. Today, 24–31.
Krause, B., and Nealson, K. H.(1997). “Physiology and enzmology involved in denitrification by Shewanella Puttrefacies.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 63(7), 2613–2618.
Kroeze, C., Mosier, A. R., and Bouwman, A. F.(1999). “Closing the global budget: A retrospective analysis 1500–1994.” Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 13, 1–8.
Kuroda, K., Osada, T., Yonaga, M., Kanematu, A., Nitta, T., Mouri, S., and Kojima, T.(1996). “Emissions of Malodorous compounds and greenhouse gases from composting swine feces.” Bioresource Technol., 56, 265–271.
Logan, J. A.(1983). “Nitrogen oxides in the troposphere: Global and regional budgets.” J. Geophys. Res., 88(C15), 10785–10807.
Mackenzie, F. T. (1995). “Global climatic change: Climatically important biogenic gases and feedbacks.” Biotic feedbacks in the global climatic system, G. M. Woodwell and F. T. Mackenzie, eds. Oxford University Press, New York, 22–46.
Mackenzie, F. T. (1998). Our changing plane: An introduction to earth system science and global environmental change, 2nd Ed., Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, N.J.
Martikainen, P. J.(1985). “Nitrous oxide emission associated with autotrophic ammonium oxidation in acid coniferous forest soil.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 50, 1519–1525.
Matthews, E.(1994). “Nitrogenous fertilizers: Global distribution of consumption and associated emissions of nitrous oxide and ammonia.” Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 8(4), 411–439.
McElroy, M. B., Elkins, J. W., Wofsy, S. C., Kolb, C. E., Duran, A. P., and Kaplan, W. A.(1978). “Production and release of from the Potomac Estuary.” Limnol. Oceanogr., 23(6), 1168–1182.
McMahon, P. B., and Dennehy, K. F.(1999). “ emissions from a nitrogen-enriched river.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 33(1), 21–25.
Metcalf and Eddy, Inc. (1991). Wastewater engineering: Treatment, disposal and reuse, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Mosier, A. R., Duxbury, J. M., Freney, J. R., Heinemeyer, O., and Minami, K.(1996). “Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural fields: Assessment, measurement and mitigation.” Plant and Soil, 181, 95–108.
Mosier, A., Kroeze, C., Nevison, C., Oenema, O., Seitzinger, S., and van Cleemput, O.(1998). “Closing the global budget: nitrous oxide emissions through the agricultural nitrogen cycle.” Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 52, 225–248.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (2000). 〈http://cmdl.noaa.gov/hals/now/insituGCs/global/gaven2o.dat〉
Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service (NRAES). (1992). On-farm composting handbook, R. Rynk, ed., Ithaca, N.Y.
Okayasu, Y., Abe, I., and Matsuo, Y.(1997). “Emission of nitrous oxide from high-rate nitrification and denitrification by mixed liquor circulating process and sequencing batch reactor process.” Water Sci. Technol., 36(12), 39–45.
Olivier, J. G. J., Bouwman, A. F., Van der Hoek, K. W., and Berdowski, J. J. M.(1998). “Global air emission inventories for anthropogenic sources of and in 1990.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 135–148.
Osada, T., Kuroda, K., and Yonaga, M.(1995). “Reducing nitrous oxide gas emissions from fill-and-draw type activated sludge process.” Water Resour., 29(6), 1607–1608.
Pels, J. R., Wojtowicz, M. A., Kapteijn, F., and Moulijn, J. A. (1994). “The trade-off between and formation in fluidised-bed combustion of coal,” Proc. of the Sixth International Workshop on Nitrous Oxide Emissions, June, 1994, Turku, Finland, 79–93.
Poth, M., and Focht, D. D.(1985). “ kinetic analysis of production of Nitrosomonas europaea: An examination of nitrifier denitrification” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 49, 1134–1141.
Radojevic, M.(1998). “Reduction of nitrogen oxides in flue gases.” Environ. Pollut., 102(S1), 685–689.
Rettenberger, G. (1998). “Leachate treatment plants in Germany,” International training seminar: Management and treatment of MSW landfill leachate, CISA, Sanitary Environmental Engineering Centre, Cagliari, Italy, December 2–4, 1998, Venice, Italy.
Robinson, H. D., Chen, C. K., Formby, R. W., and Carville, M. S. (1998). “Leachate treatment plants at Hong Kong landfill sites,” International training seminar: Management and treatment of MSW landfill leachate, CISA, Sanitary Environmental Engineering Centre, Cagliari, Italy, December 2–4, 1998, Venice, Italy.
Sahrawat, K. L., and Keeney, D. R.(1986). “Nitrous oxide emission from soils.” Adv. Soil Sci., 4, 103–148;
in: Curtin, D., Selles, F., Campbell, C. A., and Biederbeck, V. O. (1994). Canadian prairie agriculture as a source and sink of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, Agriculture Canada Report No. 379M0082.
Schenk, K., Appel, S., and Daum, D.(1997). “ Emissions during composting of organic waste (Refereed),” Acta Hortic., 450, 253–261.
Schönharting, B., Rehner, R., Metzger, J. W., Krauth, K., Rizzi, M.(1998). “Release of nitrous oxide from denitrifying activated sludge caused by -containing wastewater: Quantification and application of a new mathematical model.” Water Sci. Technol., 38(1), 237–246.
Schulthess, R. v., and Gujer, W.(1996). “Release of nitrous oxide from denitrifying activated sludge: Verification and application of a mathematical model.” Water Resour., 30, 521–530.
Schulthess, R. v., Kuhni, M., and Gujer, W.(1995). “Release of nitric and nitrous oxides from denitrifying activated sludge.” Water Resour., 29(1), 215–226.
Smil, V.(1999). “Nitrogen in crop production: An account of global flows.” Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 13, 647–662.
Spector, M.(1998a). “Production and decomposition of nitrous oxide during biological denitrification.” Water Environ. Res., 70(5), 1096–1098.
Spector, M. (1998b). Process for reducing nitrous oxide emissions from waste water treatment, U.S. Patent No. 5,820,760.
Sumer, E., Weiske, A., Benekiser, G., and Ottow, J. C. G.(1995). “Influence of environmental conditions on the amount of released from activated sludge in a domestic waste water treatment plant.” Experientia, 51, 419–422.
Tanikawa, N., Imai, T., and Urano, K.(1995). “Characteristics of continuous analyzers for nitrous oxide in flue gas from municipal incinerators.” Sci. Total Environ., 175, 189–198.
Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H., and Vigil, S. (1993). Integrated solid waste management: Engineering principles and management issues, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Thörn, M., and Sörensson, F.(1996). “Variation of nitrous oxide formation in the denitrification basin in a wastewater treatment plant with nitrogen removal.” Water Resour., 30(6), 1543–1547.
Tsujimoto, Y., Masuda, J., Fukuyama, J., and Ito, H.(1994). “ emissions at solid waste disposal sites in Osaka City.” J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc., 44, 1313–1314.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (1999). Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990–1997, report No. EPA236-R-99-003, Office of Policy.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (1998). Greenhouse gas emissions from management of selected materials in municipal solid waste. report No. EPA530-R-98-013 Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
Vitousek, P. M., and Matson, P. A. (1993). “Agriculture, the global nitrogen cycle, and trace gas flux,” Biogeochemistry of global change: Radiatively active gases, R. S. Oremland, ed., Chapman and Hall, New York, 193–209.
Watanabe, M., Sato, M., Miyazaki, M., and Tanaka, M. (1992). “Emission rate of from municipal solid waste incinerators.” Proc. Fifth International Workshop on Emissions, July 1–3, 1992, Tsukuba, Japan; in de Soete, G. (1993). “Nitrous oxide from combustion and industry: Chemistry, emissions, and control.” Proc. International IPCC Workshop on Methane and Nitrous Oxide: Methods in National Emissions Inventories and Options for Control, A. R. van Amstel, ed. RIVM Report No. 481507003, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, 287–337.
Websters third international dictionary of the english language. (1967). Merriam-Webster, Mass.
Werther, J., Ogada, T., and Philippek, C. (1994). “ emissions from fluidized bed combustion of sewage sludges.” Proc. Sixth International Workshop on Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Turku, Finland, June 1994, 139–154.
White, D. M., Nebel, K. L., and Gundappa, M., and Ferry, K. R. (1995). control technologies applicable to municipal waste combustion. EPA Summary Report.
Wicht, H.(1996). “A model for predicting nitrous oxide production during dentrification in activated sludge” Water Sci. Technol., 34(5–6), 99–106.
Wojtowicz, M. A., Pels, J. R., and Moulijn, J. A.(1994). “ emission control in coal combustion.” Fuel, 73(9), 1416–1422.
Yasuda, K., and Takahashi, M. (1992). “Emissions of nitrous oxide from waste management systems,” Proc., Fifth International Workshop on Emissions, July 1–3, 1992, Tsukuba, Japann; de Soete, G. (1993). “Nitrous oxide from combustion and industry: Chemistry, emissions, and control.” Proc., International IPCC Workshop on Methane and Nitrous Oxide: Methods in National Emissions Inventories and Options for Control, A. R. van Amstel, ed., RIVM Report No. 481507003, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, 287–337.
Zheng, H., Hanaki, K., and Matsuo, T.(1994). “Production of nitrous oxide gas during nitrification of wastewater,” Water Sci. Technol., 30(6), 133–141.
Isermann, K.(1994). “Agriculture’s share in the emission of trace cases affecting the climate and some cause-oriented proposals for sufficiently reducing this share.” Environ. Pollut., 83, 95–111.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128 • Issue 2 • February 2002
Pages: 137 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 23, 2000
Revised: Nov 3, 2000
Published online: Feb 1, 2002
Published in print: Feb 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.