Transboundary pollution generated by industrial animal production in the Baltic Sea Region Jakub Skorupski GREEN FEDERATION GAJA 2012
Definitions Industrial animal production intensive rearing, maintenance and fattening of livestock in specialized installations, which productively, organizationally and legally are closer to manufacturing facilities (enterprises, factories) than to farms. IPPC farms instalations for the intensive rearing of pigs and poultry with more than 2.000 pigs over 30 kg or 750 sows or 40.000 places for poultry, that require integrated permits, in accordance with the EU Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses and fur animals large-scale breeding installations with equivalent number of livestock should also be consider.
Definitions
Definitions 11,0% 2,2% Bydło Cattle Owce Sheep 46,2% Kozy Goats Trzoda chlewna Pigs drób Poultry konie Horses 39,5% 0,1% 1,0% Percentage of particular species in total livestock of the BSR
Individual Environmental Impact I N D I C A T O R T O W N F A R M P O P U L A T I O N 25.000 inhabitants 25.000 cows W A T E R C O N S U M P T I O N 200 L/day/person 15 L/day/animal S E W A G E P R O D U C T I O N 4.250 m 3 /day 1.712 m 3 /day S E W A G E T O T A L N C O N T E N T 212,5 kg/day 5.075,0 kg/day S E W A G E T O T A L P C O N T E N T 42,5 kg/day 1.000,0 kg/day A R E A O F L A N D R E Q U I R E D F O R N S P R E A D I N G (170 kg N/ha/year) A R E A O F L A N D R E Q U I R E D F O R P S P R E A D I N G (25 kg P/ha/year) 456,3 ha 10.896,3 ha 620,5 ha 14.600,0 ha E Q U I V A L E N T (in terms of N and P production) W A S T E W A T E R H A N D L I N G 1 town corresponds to 0,04 farms discharged and treated by mechanical, chemical, biological or combinational methods; after purification drained into water courses 1 farm corresponds to 28,30 towns discharged and stored in tanks; after fermentation, applied directly to fields or ponds
Statistical Data about 67,3 millions of pigs in the Baltic Sea catchment area, population of poultry amounts to about 189,8 millions, app. 35,6 millions of cows in the Baltic Sea catchment area, total livestock density in the EU countries of the BSR is equal to 40,4 millions of LU, more than 1.320 IPPC farms in the Baltic catchment area, number of farms with more than 100 LU in the EU countries of the BSR amounts up to 74,4 thous.
Statistical Data 11 117,9 747,2 1 152,1 1 784,8 2 052,8 4 582,2 Czech Rep. Denmark Germany Estonia Latvia 0,3 0,4 0,4 6,9 1,0 1,9 4,2 2,3 10,3 Lithuania Poland Slovakia 1 030,9 487,9 17 985,2 Finland Sweden 313,2 46,7 Total number of livestock (in thous. of LU; on the left) and industrial animal farms (>100 LU, in thous.; on the right) in the EU countries of the BSR
Accumulated Environmental Impact
Transboundary Pollution water pollution by nitrogen and phosphorus eutrophication greenhouse gases (GHG) emission acid rains ozone layer destruction farm animals escapes
Water Pollution concentration and intensification of animal production promotes emission of large amounts of nutrients, spatial and technological distance between animal farms and land cultivating farms leads to disturbances in nutrients circulation in agroecosystems, only app. 30% of N is dispersed from the crop production, while losses from animal production reach 75%, surplus of nutrients on farms averaging 60 kg N/ha/year and 20 kg P/ha/year, about 50% of nitrogen and app. 80% of phosphorus from feed goes to the excrements, the greatest losses of N and P from manure occur in livestock buildings (up to 80%), during storage of fertilizers (up to 65%) and their application on agricultural land (up to 70%)
Water Pollution N 2 13 Agriculture 24 P Forestry 10 Precipitation Industry 4 8 59 Domestic wastewater Fish farms 14 55 8 2 1 Percentage contribution of particular anthropogenic sources in the overall nutrient load flowing into the sea (Granstedt, 2006)
Water Pollution N P 5% Poland 5% 5% 10% 27% Germany Denmark Sweden 4% 8% 35% 14% 3% Finland Russia 11% 17% 8% Estonia Latvia Lithuania 20% 10% 11% 5% 2% Percentage contribution of the BSR countries in the overall nutrient load flowing into the sea (HELCOM, 2006)
Eutrophication over-fertilization of inland and sea waters contributes to algal blooms, this in turns results in decrease of fish population, ecosystems modifications, loss of bottom fauna, lack of oxygen in waters, reduced range of light penetration in the water column or production of harmful to human and animal health cyanobacterial toxins, Baltic ecosystem primary production increased in the XXth cen. by app. 30-70%, zooplankton by about 25%, and zoobenthos production has doubled, in the same time, biomass growth caused by eutrophication is accompanied by a general decline in biodiversity, eutrophication of terrestrial ecosystems (forests, grasslands) stimulate growth of plants with high P demand, which results in disappearance of some animal species.
Eutrophication
Eutrophication Chlorophyll a concentration in waters of the European seas, July 2007 (JRC, emis.jrc.ec.euro pa.eu)
Eutrophication
GHG emission GHG emissions associated with livestock production accounts for app. 18% of the total anthropogenic emissions of these gases (more than transportation), one pig (sow) emits app. 0.089 kg CO 2 /h, livestock production is responsible for about 40% of total methane emissions, nitrous oxide emissions are mainly from the fertilized soil (about 83% of emissions from agricultural production), and losses associated with storage and transport of animal fertilizers.
GHG emission
Acid Rains ammonia emitted from agriculture is responsible for the formation of acid rain in about 30%, animal production is the main source of ammonia, responsible for 65-70% of its emissions, dairy cow release 27.8 kg NH 3 /year, pig 5.1, sheep or goat 1.9, chicken 0.26, and the horse - 12.5, in 2005, about 92 thous. Mg of ammonia reach the Baltic Sea from atmospheric precipitation, Poland, Germany and Denmark are responsible for the greatest ammonia deposition to the Baltic, the concentration of ammonia in livestock buildings ranges from 5 to 10 ppm, while during the removal of manure can reach up to 100 ppm.
Acid Rains Ammonia emission in Europe (kg N/ha/year)
Ozone Layer Destruction methane and nitrous oxide, emitted by large-scale animal production, act destructively on the ozone layer, methane contributes indirectly to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere and has a protective effect on it in the troposphere, where excess ozone is harmful to living organisms, nitrous oxide is formed during microbial processes (especially nitrification) occur in wetlands and overfertilized soils (65-70% of global emissions of N 2 O).
Ozone Layer Destruction
Farm Animals Escapes animals escapes are serious problem on fur-bearing animals farms (mainly mink farms), the main causes of escapes are: careless zootechnical treatment, errors when removing animals from their cages (vaccination, mating, weaning young), transport of animals, inadequate protection of farm buildings, escapes, next to the deliberate release by the radical environmental movement and introductions carried out in the former Soviet Union, contribute to the creation of a strong and expansive feral populations of American mink, in addition to predation and competition for environmental resources, a large threat of feral mink is the transmission of diseases into wild animals, such as otter and polecat.
Farm Animals Escapes
Thank You for Your attention jakub@gajanet.pl