Instant Insights: Environmental Impact of Poultry Production

This book features five peer-reviewed reviews on the environmental impact of poultry production. The first chapter briefly introduces life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and addresses the particular effects of egg production on four key impact categories: climate change, land use change, acidifying and eutrophying emissions and water footprint. The second chapter reviews the key role of LCA in identifying the sources of environmental impacts in poultry meat production, as well as potential mitigation strategies. The third chapter discusses key emissions resulting from layer production systems, including greenhouse gases, ammonia, particulate matter, odours and volatile organic compounds. It also considers practical solutions for emissions mitigation, from diet and genetics, to manure and litter management. The fourth chapter reviews the major types of waste generated in egg production facilities and discusses the various methods and technologies for treating and managing these waste streams, such as the use of aerobic treatments. The final chapter addresses current poultry processing practices, the consequent production of byproducts, as well as future opportunities to enhance the value of these byproducts as sources of high-value biological compounds and tissues.