Research of organic carbon loss in sewage sludge compost by using composting covers

Abstract

Soil and climate change relation is highly important. Soil is part of climate change problem, but it could be a part of this problem solution. For better understanding and estimation of climate gasses emission and for slowing down these processes is necessary to do more investigation in this field. Sustainable soil usage could help to save or even increase carbon amount in the soil and this process will sustain balance of climate gas emissions. Soil carbon is essential element which determines soil fertility. Recently it is discussed the importance of organic materials for soil quality and the applicability of sewage sludge to enrich soil with organics. Sewage sludge as organic carbon source can improve soil quality. The best way to stabilise and immobilise carbon is mineralisation which happens in the composting process. The aim of our research is to evaluate the loss of organic carbon during the sewage sludge composting process by applying natural composting covers. The main objective of composting covers is to solve problems related with air pollution, smells, and preservation of carbon in the compost. During the research were used multi-layer composting covers which consisted of grained tree bark, textile layer, and peat layer with grass. Research results revealed that natural layers of composting cover repress gas emission, formed during composting process, and minimizes the loss of organic carbon in the compost.