Framework for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption in Cities by Utilizing Green Infrastructure
Trakarn Prapaspongsa, Cliff I. Davidson, Ranjina Jindal, David Wohlers, Mallory Squier, Carli Flynn, Jeremy Tamargo, Davide Maneschi
VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) · 2013
Climate change has threatened global security of ecosystems, human health and natural resources. These threats have increased demand for various mitigation technology solutions as well as effective strategies for adapting to anticipated impacts. Green infrastructure (GI) technologies such as green roofs and urban forestry are viewed as ones of the best climate adaptation strategies in cities. This study aims to develop a framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation (CCMA) in cities by using green infrastructure technologies. The framework is established by integrating existing green infrastructure frameworks with indicators from green building rating systems (LEED 2009, BCA Green Mark 4.0, CASBEE, and TREES-NC 1.0). The climate change mitigation and adaptation framework addresses benefits from applying different GI technologies as well as limitations in existing rating systems and the green infrastructure applications. This framework will guide researchers, professionals, and decision-makers to effectively integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban planning and development.
Models to quantify excretion of dry matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon in growing pigs fed regional diets
Henry Jørgensen, Trakarn Prapaspongsa, Van Thi Khanh Vu, Hanne Damgaard Poulsen
Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2013
Modern pig production contributes to many environmental problems that relate to manure, especially in areas with highly intensive production systems and in regions like Asia where the regulative control is not effective. Therefore, the objective of this study was to use three different pig diets varying in dietary protein, fibre and fat as representative for Danish (DK), Thai (TH) and Vietnamese (VN) pig production to develop and evaluate different approaches to predict/calculate excretion from growing pigs in comparison with the experimentally determined values.Nine female growing pigs were used in a digestibility and balance experiment. Excretion of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and carbon (C) of the experimental diets were determined.Due to the highest dietary fibre content, VN had the lowest digestibility of N, P and C (73, 49, and 73%, respectively) compared with the DK and TH pig diets. From the known diet composition using standard table values on chemical and nutrient digestibly, high accuracy (bias) and low variation was found and the results could be used for prediction on chemical composition and excretion in faeces and urine in growing pigs. Calculation based on standard values regarding nutrient retention in the pig body as used in the Danish manure normative system (DMNS) showed likewise to be quite useful for quantifying the total excretion of N and P.Overall, the results demonstrate that simple models that require cheap and normally available information on dietary nutrients can give useful information on nutrient excretion in growing pigs.
Assessment of digestibility improving enzymes potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in broiler production
Anja Marie Bundgaard, Randi Dalgaard, Mikkel Thrane, Trakarn Prapaspongsa
VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) · 2012
The objective of this study was to examine the potential of digestibility improving enzymes to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in broiler production. The product examined was a new enzyme called Axtra XAP, developed by DuPont, Danisco Animal Nutrition. Two scenarios were compared: one where Axtra XAP was not included in the diet and one where Axtra XAP was included in the diet. Axtra XAP facilitated higher inclusion rates of cheaper (and possibly more environmentally friendly) feed ingredients that have a lower nutritional value in the diet. Axtra XAP’s environmental improvement potential was documented through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by applying a consequential approach including indirect land use changes (ILUC). The findings showed that Axtra XAP could reduce GHG emissions from broiler production by 5%. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of the results and it showed that the result varied substantially. The most important parameters were the inclusion or exclusion of ILUC and changes in the feed formulation.
Framework for LCI Modelling towards Green Logistic Systems
Trakarn Prapaspongsa, Søren Løkke
2012
In order to establish green logistic systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important tool for evaluating and comparing overall environmental impacts from various options. Most LCA studies rely on readily available secondary databases on transport services such as Ecoinvent database and scientific publications. The most widely applied Ecoinvent database on transport services is aggregated with specific transport variables and statistics based on European and Swiss average data. To modify the life cycle inventory (LCI) database with specific variables (e.g. load factors, driving speed, etc.) is very complicated and may not be possible. Such studies are still lacking due to complexity and resource limitations. This study aims to provide a framework for LCI modelling to conduct LCAs of European freight transport with up-to-date LCI data in terms of emissions and transport variables. The framework comprises of a conceptual transport model, important transport variables and data sources for freight transport by road and by rail in Europe. The data collection was carried out by literature studies and interviews with relevant experts. The framework is useful for LCA practitioners, researchers and industries to include specific transport variables and to adequately assess the environmental impacts from transport activities by road and by rail.
Skallerup Klit's carbon footprint: a tool for building up the business strategy
Kristina Overgaard Zacho, Niels Holm Ørnstrup, Tine Marquard Zimmermann, Mariia Kravchenko, Martin Lehmann, Trakarn Prapaspongsa
VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) · 2011
Skallerup Klit is a Danish holiday center certified as CO2 neutral. <br/>They use this label for branding as them selves as the first CO2 neutral holiday <br/>center in Denmark. There are reasons to question how ambitious “CO2 <br/>neutrality” as a strategy is, because this goal can be reached rather easily by <br/>offsetting and without making actual emission reductions. Therefore the purpose <br/>of this study is to present recommendations on how Skallerup Klit can <br/>build up their business strategy using Carbon Footprint (CFP) as a tool. The <br/>CPF is calculated and assessed by using financial data in an Input-output <br/>LCA. For the LCA the system boundaries of the assessment of Skallerup <br/>Klit´s CFP are defined to include both direct and indirect emissions from the <br/>supply chain and from transportation and food eaten at the holiday center. <br/>Scenarios are conducted to illustrate where the greatest emission reductions <br/>are possible and the results are then used to make recommendations on how <br/>Skallerup Klit can build up their business strategy on future CO2 reduction <br/>initiatives.
Skallerup Klit's carbon footprint
Kristina Overgaard Zacho, Niels Holm Ørnstrup, Tine Marquard Zimmermann, Mariia Kravchenko, Martin Lehmann, Trakarn Prapaspongsa
2011
Sustainable Piggery waste management: A study based on examples and cases from Denmark and Thailand
Trakarn Prapaspongsa
2010
Intensive pig productionmaybe a hazard to the environment due to plant nutrient leakage and losses. To facilitate efficient and sustainable manure management and reduce oversupplying of crops with nutrients, there is a need for precise assessment of nutrient content in manure and manure excretion. This study has developed algorithms for predicting the amount of excreta and manure content of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C). Data compiled from 285 digestibility andNbalance experimentswith growing-finishingpigs diets fed diets varyingwidely in chemical compositionwereused toestablish algorithms. The main input variables were analysed nutrients contents together with intake of drymatter and digestibility of organic matter (diOM). The accuracy and prediction power of the obtained prediction equationswere testedwith another dataset consisting of 116 digestibility and N balance experiments with varying chemical compositions. Prediction equations related to Cwas tested using 26 digestibility experiments. The dietary fibre (DF) fractions like crude fibre, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), analysed DF and calculated dietary fibre (cDF) were all highly negatively correlated to digestibility and positively tomanure output. Includingmore than one or two predictors onlymarginally improved predicting the C and N content in excreta aswell as the daily excretion rates. The best predictor for estimating ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +45 8999 1130; fax: +45 8999 1166. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Jorgensen). 0377-8401/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2008.10.008 98 V.T.K. Vu et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 151 (2009) 97–110 the daily amount of faeces and daily faecal N and C excretion was diOM, and the second best predictor was cDF. However, the equations became more precise when dry matter intake or animal body weight was added as independent variable. For urine N equations, the dietary protein intakewas the best predictor. The partitioning of N between faeces and urine was related to the concentration of cDF with a shift in N excretion in urine to N excreted in faeces as more carbohydratewas fermented. The ratio of C/N in faeceswas depending on cDF in the diet. Thewide variation in the diets included in the predictions ensures that the equations also are relevant and applicable in developing as well as developed countries as a useful tool for efficient handling and use of manure nutrients in practice. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Energy production, nutrient recovery and greenhouse gas emission potentials from integrated pig manure management systems
Trakarn Prapaspongsa, Tjalfe G. Poulsen, Jens Å. Hansen, Per Christensen
Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · 2009
Improper management of pig manure has resulted in environmental problems such as surface water eutrophication, ground water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. This study develops and compares 14 alternative manure management scenarios aiming at energy and nutrient extraction. The scenarios based on combinations of thermal pretreatment, anaerobic digestion, anaerobic co-digestion, liquid/solid separation, drying, incineration, and thermal gasification were compared with respect to their energy, nutrient and greenhouse gas balances. Both sole pig manure and pig manure mixed with other types of waste materials were considered. Data for the analyses were obtained from existing waste treatment facilities, experimental plants, laboratory measurements and literature. The assessment reveals that incineration combined with liquid/solid separation and drying of the solids is a promising management option yielding a high potential energy utilization rate and greenhouse gas savings. If maximum electricity production is desired, anaerobic digestion is advantageous as the biogas can be converted to electricity at high efficiency in a gas engine while allowing production of heat for operation of the digestion process. In conclusion, this study shows that the choice of technology has a strong influence on energy, nutrient and greenhouse gas balances. Thus, to get the most reliable results, it is important to consider the most representative (and up-to-date) technology combined with data representing the area or region in question.