Emission of Air Pollutants from Rice Residue Open Burning in Thailand, 2018

Abstract

Crop residue burning negatively impacts both the environment and human health, whether in the aspect of air pollution, regional and global climate change, or transboundary air pollution. Accordingly, this study aims to assess the level of air pollutant emissions caused by the rice residue open burning activities in 2018, by analyzing the remote sensing information and country specific data. This research also aims to analyze the trend of particulate matter 10 microns or less in diameter (PM10) concentration air quality sites in provinces with large paddy rice planting areas from 2010–2017. According to the results, 61.87 megaton (Mt) of rice residue were generated, comprising 21.35 Mt generated from the irrigated fields and 40.53 Mt generated from the rain-fed field. Only 23.0% of the total rice residue generated were subject to open burning—of which nearly 32% were actually burned in the fields. The emissions from such rice residue burning consisted of: 5.34 ± 2.33 megaton (Mt) of CO2, 44 ± 14 kiloton (kt) of CH4, 422 ± 179 kt of CO, 2 ± 2 kt of NOX, 2 ± 2 kt of SO2, 38 ± 22 kt of PM2.5, 43 ± 29 kt of PM10, 2 ± 1 kt of black carbon (BC), and 14 ± 5 kt of organic carbon (OC). According to the air quality trends, the results shows the higher level of PM10 concentration was due to the agricultural burning activities, as reflected in the higher monthly averages of the months with the agricultural burning, by around 1.9–2.1 times. The result also shows the effect of government’s policy for farmers on the crop burning activities and air quality trends.

Chemical, Biological and Morphological Properties of Fine Particles during Local Rice Straw Burning Activities

“…According to [8], assessing the effects of open rice straw burning on air quality is difficult because these fires typically occur infrequently, for short periods of time, and in small rice paddy plots spread across a large region [8]. The study in Thailand was conducted by [29] and found that PM 2.5 concentrations ranged between 2-166 µg/m 3 over a 24 h period (daily standard 50 µg/m 3 ) and 9-36 µg/m 3 over an annual average, bringing the national average to 22 µg/m 3 (average standard 25 µg/m 3 ). Furthermore, the number of days when PM 2.5 concentrations exceeded the daily standard in Chiang Mai, a province in Thailand's northern region where many biomass open burning activities can be found during the summer, was reduced from 57 to 29 g/m 3 in 2016 compared to 2017.…”

The Availability and Assessment of Potential Agricultural Residues for the Regional Development of Second-Generation Bioethanol in Thailand

“…According to a report issued by the Rice Department, around 18-29 million tons of residual rice straw was managed by burning it as paddy stubble on the field [148]. This has become a serious issue, causing air pollution due to the emission of gas and small dust particles [149].…”

“…In order to tackle trade-offs from a scenario where an immense amount of biomass would flow into the bioenergy sector, the strategy requires an adequate method of biomass management, particularly in the case of Thailand. Even though agricultural residues have been deployed in several applications, the leftover agricultural residues generated in Thailand are presently not being exploited to their maximum potential [12,149]. Currently, around 50% of rice residues are managed in rice paddies through field burning or left unutilized in the fields [166].…”

Pemanfaatan Limbah Jerami Padi Di Desa Garon Kecamatan Balerejo, Kabupaten Madiun

“…Jika musim kemarau sebagian jerami dimanfaatkan sebagai pakan ternak dan media penanaman jamur. Pembakaran jerami padi memberikan kontribusi peningkatan emisi gas rumah kaca seperti karbon dioksida (CO2), karbon monoksida (CO), karbon yang terbakar (dengan jumlah jejak metana), nitrogen oksida (NOx), dan jumlah jejak sulfur dioksida (SO2), bersama dengan lainnya partikulat (PM), (Andini, Bonnet, Rousset, & Hasanudin, 2018;Gadde, Bonnet, Menke, & Garivait, 2009;Junpen, Pansuk, Kamnoet, Cheewaphongphan, & Garivait, 2018;Lim, Manan, Wan Alwi, & Hashim, 2012). Diperkirakan tahun 2030 peningkatan emisi gas rumah kaca dari aktifitas pembakaran biomassa di Indonesia mengalami peningkatan 29% (Andini et al, 2018).…”