By UN New
Waste is money. At least that’s what Mark Sutton of the United Kindgom Centre for Ecology & Hydrology wants policymakers to understand. Sutton, who has studied nitrogen pollution for more than three decades, is convinced that there is a way to harvest emitted nitrogen to be reused by farmers as nitrogen fertilizer.
Nitrogen pollution—which Sutton calls the “godfather of pollution,” as you can’t see it as you can the results—is a major challenge for the 21st century, as it contaminates the air, water and land, making it difficult to breathe and altering plant growth. To reduce nitrogen pollution as part of the circular economy, Sutton advocates that we reuse old gas.
Where is Nitrogen found?
Nitrogen (N2) is all around us. Over 78 per cent of our atmosphere is made of nitrogen, it’s the reason the sky is blue and the earth is stable to live in. (If there was only oxygen everything would be on fire.) Nitrogen is a harmless and chemically unreactive gas but if combined with other gases it becomes usable. For example, joined with hydrogen (H2) we get ammonia NH3, which is the raw material for most nitrogen fertilizers. However, ammonia is a major cause of eutrophication and affects biodiversity. Read more>>
