[USCC] worms and global warming

Thu Sep 11 09:16:32 CDT 2008

This article has been going around for a while now. I too was concerned
when I first heard about and read the report. I quickly asked for input
from Ohio State University, Norman Aracon, Vermiculture researcher and a
few other vermi specialist's. See below responses:

Brian Rosa, Organic Recycling Specialist
NC DENR, DPPEA
1639 MailService Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1639
919-715-6524 work
810-252-8303 cell
brian.rosa at ncmail.net
Web: www.p2pays.org/compost

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your e-mail and glad to see you at the conference and bearing
with my singing.

Sorry for not responding earlier - been buried with paper work lately.

The news you sent about earthworms producing harmful quantities of N20
(and other gases) has created a wave of news all over the cyber space
and has created at least a scare for some people who are raising
earthworms.

I went ahead and researched this topic and got hold of Jim
Frederickson's publications which were the main source of the claim that
earthworms produce harmful greenhouse gases. The good news is that,
after reviewing one of his papers, the research protocol that he
employed, especially setting up the vermicomposting pile, was flawed -
which could explain greenhouses gases oozing out from it. 

Clive and I are preparing an article to refute this claim and I would
gladly send you this once it is ready for distribution.

If they do produce gases, then your assumption  that vermicomposting
operations, if put together, is not big enough size to produce
significant quantities of gases. 

I sure would like to get back with you on this issue after I do research
on the topic.

Best regards,

Norman
Brian,

You are correct in that all the vermicomposters in the US don't equal
1/10 of 1% of a single average landfill in terms of volume.  I don't
think this is the angle to stress however.  We need more data than one
point.

More importantly, is that if this is the paper from the author I have,
it is a misquote (Norman check me here).  I have one from Fredrick, and
it is vermicomposting in a soil environment not raised beds.
Vermicomposting guts are anaerobic so some no2 is to be expected - I
would like to know the matrix raised in - gas could be captured. 

Tom

From: Allison L H Jack <alh54 at cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Fwd: FW: worm composting harmful

Yep, saw both studies several years ago...so strange that it's coming
out in the media now. 

These were outdoor worm beds in England built right on the soil with no
airflow underneath and fed a high moisture content potato waste liquid
slurry. I imagine the moisture was very high, which would increase
denitrification rates. Not to say this isn't a serious finding, I'd just
like to see some more data before the headline "Worms are killing the
planet" is bandied about. I think this is irresponsible journalism and a
scientist who is trying to increase the newsworthiness of his study by
taking an alarmist angle. Would love to get some NO flux data for Tom's
well managed system. 

Here's what I wrote to Rhonda Sherman (NC State):

************************************************************************
**************************

The initial Frederickson study came out in 2003 from the Worm Centre and
the Open University in the UK. Then it came out in a peer reviewed
journal in 2004. I've sent this paper to tons of VC people, I think I
was carrying it around with me in Las Vegas. I swear I gave you a copy,
but maybe I didn't. It's hugely important for vermicomposters to know.
The facility used in the study was outdoors in England (so a very wet
climate). I would love to see numbers for VC operations with better
moisture management because denitrifying rates due to bacterial activity
are entirely dependent on an anaerobic environment. So in this study
it's impossible to know how much of the nitrous oxides produced were
from the gut microbiota or from bacteria in waterlogged vermicompost. I
think in the future this industry will be forced to go indoors in
facilities similar to Tom's, because there potentially will be
regulations on N emissions, which could be managed with biofilters etc.
if it's being done in an enclosed space. 

Before people go making sweeping statements about climate change, I
would love to see more detailed studies like this one:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/pdf/climate_change.pdf 

This report takes a systems approach and looks at the greenhouse gas
emissions, but also the greenhouse gas mitigations (replacement for
peat, synthetic fertilizer etc.) and long term carbon sequestration in
soils. In the overall analysis, windrow composting is carbon neutral in
this specific case. I wish there would be a media spotlight shone on the
fertilizer industry. Synthetic nitrogen production starts with natural
gas, and uses more natural gas to make fertilizer, meanwhile producing
more nitrous oxides than any other industrial source. So we have to keep
our focus on the whole picture and take into account all of the
alternatives (synthetic fertilizer, manure lagoons, dead zone in the
gulf of Mexico due to mismanaged manure etc.) before making a final
judgement. I consider this alarmist reporting, taking preliminary
results from a test facility and trying to make these kinds of ties to
policy relevance, I think they are trying to boost the newsworthiness of
a small, but important study. 

************************************************************************
***************

Thanks for passing this one along!

Take care,
Allison

-----Original Message-----
From: compost-bounces at mailman.cloudnet.com
[mailto:compost-bounces at mailman.cloudnet.com] On Behalf Of Public
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 6:00 PM
To: 'Compost Discussion List'
Subject: [USCC] worms and global warming

An article in a UK paper claims that worms 'emit nitrous oxide - a
greenhouse gas 296 times more powerful, molecule for molecule, than
carbon dioxide.'

I hope someone much more knowledgeable than I will comment.  I hate to
hear anything bad about worms.

Karin Grobe
Organic Recyclers Anonymous

Full article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/06/eaworm
106.
xml

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
Last Updated: 6:01pm BST 06/07/2007

Worms may not be as environmentally friendly as the growing number of
gardeners who use them to help compost their kitchen scraps and grass
clippings believe, say scientists.

In fact, the greenhouse gases emitted by a large commercial worm
composting plant may be comparable to the global warming potential of a
landfill site of the same scale, according to the Open University.

This is because worms used in composting emit nitrous oxide - a
greenhouse gas 296 times more powerful, molecule for molecule, than
carbon dioxide.

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