Field measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from biological treatment facilities of food waste in Republic of Korea

Abstract

The Republic of Korea is trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37% from business-as-usual levels by 2030. Reliable greenhouse gas inventory is prerequisite to making effective greenhouse gas reduction plans. Currently, Intergovernmental Panels on Climate Change default emission factors were used in biological treatment of the solid waste sector without any consideration of the biological treatment process in the Republic of Korea. In this study, greenhouse gas emissions from biological treatment facilities of food waste have been monitored in order to develop country-specific emission factors in the Republic of Korea. Greenhouse gas emissions were monitored in two composting facilities and one anaerobic digestion facility. All study sites possess a local exhaust ventilation system and odour treatment system. Continuous greenhouse gas monitoring has been conducted on gathered gases using a non-dispersive infrared detector before entering odour treatment systems. At composting facilities, the emission factors of CH4 and N2O were 0.17-0.19 g-CH4 kg-waste(-1) and 0.10-0.13 g-N2O kg-waste(-1), respectively. Especially, the emission factors of CH4 in composting facilities showed significantly low values compared with other countries owing to the air blowing by a pump at the studied sites. At anaerobic digestion facilities, the emission factors of CH4 and N2O were 1.03 g-CH4 kg-waste(-1) and 0.53 g-N2O kg-waste(-1). The emission factors estimated in this study showed a significant difference from the Intergovernmental Panels on Climate Change default value. Therefore, it is recommended to develop a country-specific emission factor in order to reflect the different processes of biological treatment of solid waste.