Methane emissions have a strong and negative climate impact. Composting without proper oxygen produce methane. I really dont like bad smell or methane emissions, so i think i will stick with trying to get a decent amount of air into my compost piles...
Thank you for this experiment. When composting in gardens we don't have such infrastructure for aeration but I always encourage people to turn the heap manually.
the important learning is how oxygen content impacts the microbial community - it not only changes whether they respire aerobically or anaerobically, it may cause a different suite of microbes to flourish!
It actually makes me wonder, peat is basically organic matter composted anaerobically under water, and peat lands are considered massive carbon deposits, so maybe there is a way to compost in low to 0 oxygen environments, would love to hear your thoughts, great video like always
Yes, there certainly is a way to compost at very low oxygen - how much time do you have - it would take a number of years. Peat forms in thousands of years. Likely not so efficient use of space!
Thank you for this excillent information. I want to know, incase of chicken manure, is it possible to decompose within 3 weeks to get odorless mature compost? Thus, chicken manure contain several times ammonia than cowdung or kitchen waste. I use compost turner in composter pile every alternative day.
It's not likely very easy to achieve with just chicken manure by itself. If you would wish to speed up the process, it would require actively aerating it, mixing it at least 2 x weekly, and adding water or other liquid material. Chicken manure contains so much energy, and hence requires a lot of air, which dries out the product quickly. Hence the need for adding water and mixing it at least 2 x weekly. Just turning the product with a compost turner works, but it takes a much longer because the oxygen drops to 0 within minutes after turning. I hope that this is helpful.
