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Methane is the most abundant organic chemical in the earth's atmosphere. Its abundance in the atmosphere is increasing with time and has reached levels not seen in recent geological history. The methane is produced both naturally, and anthropogenically. One of the sources of anthropogenic methane is manure from domesticated animals. Casada and Safley (1990) estimated the amount of methane generated from this source. This was done by estimating the Methane Conversion Factor (MCF) typically achieved by various waste management systems. This study was done to evaluate those estimates of the MCF. The MCF's for the most dominant of disposal methods, rangeland/pasture disposal, were much lower than the earlier estimates. Other waste management systems, such as solid storage and liquid slurry storage had much higher MCF's, at 20° and 30° C. However, these waste management methods are more prevalent in parts of the world where the average annual temperature is closer to 10° C. At that temperature, the MCF is negligible in all waste management systems. This study showed that the previously reported estimates of MCF for some waste management systems were higher than what was actually the case. Consequently earlier estimates of the amount of methane generated from manures were higher than what this study found. / Graduation date: 1994

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No description available.