CARBON HOOFPRINT ISSUE 30.qxd:Jerkins feature.qxd
21/5/10
15:02
Page 2
CARBON HOOFPRINT
Tackling the Carbon Hoofprint anaerobic digesters, the biogas formed, which is mainly methane, has a value of 6.4kWh/Nm3. This compares with 10kWh/Nm3 for natural gas. Digesters are popular in Germany where they have been installed on over 1,000 farms. Some of these digesters do accept horse manure, which has a similar calorific value to cattle manure, producing 20m3 of biogas per m3 of manure. The largest biogas plant taking horse manure is Essen, which takes in 2,750 tonnes of horse manure a year. As yet no European country is composting horse manure on the scale of the U.S. state of Michigan. There, 11,000 tonnes per year is mixed with wood chips to produce electricity for about 35,000 Michigan homes. Another positive reason for making your own compost is to reduce your bill for fertiliser, which leads to another area where
trainers can make a significant difference to carbon levels. The healthier your grass and soil, the more carbon it will be able to lock up. Healthy grass is better able to use the nitrogen available to it and also means a healthy root structure, which again locks up carbon. Poor, thin soils will lock up around four tonnes of carbon a hectare, compared with 40 tonnes for top quality turf. This will be lost if the ground is ploughed or poached. Compost-rich soil also requires less irrigation because the healthier root systems of the grass can store more water. This will also reduce runoff and cut the risk of erosion. Healthy roots can reduce irrigation needs by 30% to 70%, another very important eco-friendly criteria for turf gallops. To maintain gallops in good condition,
whether they are grass or all-weather, every trainer will have a tractor. In many cases these will be a weak point for emissions, often being old and poorly maintained. It is common sense that fuel consumption will be minimised when tyre pressure is correct and the vehicle is regularly serviced. Also, instead of racing through the job, take time to check the revs. These should be below 2,000rpm. For best fuel consumption revs should be around 1,650rpm. Moving in to the stable yard, the largest energy bill is likely to be heating the water for washing down. A typical large yard will have a 500 litre tank. If all the water is heated to 40ºC above the cold water temperature twice a day, the electricity needed is 3.86kW. At a cost of €8 per kW this is €30.88 a day. If used every day from the beginning of October to the end of March this is €5,558.
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