Livestock and poultry manure resource distribution and energy model of karst rocky desertification areas in southern China

Karst ecological civilization is required to construct for energy production and consumption in the Karst rocky desertification (KRD) area in southern China. It is of great practical significance for rural areas to determine the distribution of animal and poultry manure resources, in order to realize the highly efficient energy utilization. In this study, the research area was selected as Guizhou Province with the serious KRD in southern China. The nine cities/prefectures were collected from the statistical yearbook as the data source. Four types of livestock manure resources were selected to estimate the potential of per capita livestock utilization. The regional characteristics of livestock and poultry resources were defined to quantitatively using mathematical statistics. There was some difference in livestock and poultry manure resources between Karst counties and non-karst counties, as well as a correlation with the level of KRD. A biogas mode was proposed for the energy utilization of livestock and poultry manure resources. The economic feasibility of the model was measured as well. The following three conclusions were drawn: 1) The theoretical resources of four types of livestock and poultry manure were 52.874 million tons in 2017, and the recoverable resources were 36.358 6 million tons, which was dominated by cow manure and pig manure. Spatially, the growth trend was from the southeast to northwest, with significant differences among counties. 2) The amount of manure fertilizer resources was 18.15 million tons, the amount of energy conversion resources was 18.208 6 million tons, the amount of standard coal was reduced, and the annual energy consumption of firewood was replaced by 15.254 4 million tons, indicating the comparative advantages of energy utilization in livestock manure. Cites of Zunyi and Bijie in the northwest shared the promising potential for large-scale utilization. 3) rural energy was dominated by electrification and gasification in recent years, considering the rural energy development trend, regional resource endowment, population age structure, and population shrinkage. Some recommendations were given to construct the rural energy production and consumption revolution demonstration zone, due to the population shrinkage and population age structure. The large-scale biogas project/bio-gas model was proposed to select livestock manure as the raw material in the plateau mountainous area with potential-mild KRD. The optimal structure of energy consumption with ecologically friendly, social, and economic feasibility can be expected to alleviate the regional energy poverty and economic pressure, and then reduce the incidence of diseases for a better indoor environment. The finding can provide a strong reference to consolidate the rock desertification control for the health and well-being of local community households.