摘要：Lignite amendment of livestock manure is considered a viable ammonia (NHsub3/sub) emission mitigation technique. However, its impact on the subsequent composting of the manure has not been well studied. This work compared changes in biochemical parameters (e.g., organic matter loss and nitrogen (N) transformation) and also the emissions of NHsub3/sub and greenhouse gases (GHGs) between lignite-amended and unamended cattle manure during forced aeration composting. Amending manure with lignite did not alter the time to compost stability despite delaying the onset of the thermophilic temperatures. Lignite treatments retained N in the manure by suppressing NHsub3/sub loss by 35–54%, resulting in lignite-amended manure composts having 10–19% more total N than the unamended compost. Relative to manure only, lignites reduced GHG emissions over the composting period: nitrous oxide (Nsub2/subO) (58–72%), carbon dioxide (COsub2/sub) (12–23%) and methane (CHsub4/sub) (52–59%). Low levels of CHsub4/sub and Nsub2/subO emissions were observed and this was attributed to the continuous forced aeration system used in the composting. Lignite addition also improved the germination index of the final compost: 90–113% compared to 71% for manure only. These findings suggest that lignite amendment of manure has the potential to improve the quality of the final compost whilst mitigating the environmental release of NHsub3/sub and GHGs.
