UEA aims to stop laughing off threat from nitrous oxide - News - Academia and Research - Business Weekly

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UEA aims to stop laughing off threat from nitrous oxide

Written by Sam Fountain
Monday, 18 February 2008
Agriculture is thought to contribute around 20 per cent of greenhouse gases Scientists at UEA are to head up a consortium taking on on some of the nations most influential organisations over the oft overlooked dangers of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. The Nitrous Oxide Focus Group, which will feature leading environmental scientists from around the country, plans to present and explore cutting edge research into the sources and sinks of the 'forgotten greenhouse gas' in the environment on February 22. While nitrous oxide (N2O) accounts for just 9 per cent of all greenhouse gases, its longevity in the atmosphere provides a potentially more damaging legacy than CO2, owing to its potency, which can be more than 300 times that of its more famous cousin. A group of farmers, food suppliers, policy-makers, business leaders and environmentalists are joining forces discuss the prospects of mitigating the release of this destructive gas through re-shaping current policies and practice. “People are becoming increasingly concerned about the immense problems associated with the unregulated release of this potent greenhouse gas,” said Prof David Richardson, Dean of the Faculty of Science at UEA and co-ordinator of the Nitrous Oxide Focus Group. “It is very encouraging that so many key figures from agriculture, industry and government are interested in mitigating nitrous oxide emissions by learning more about key research questions that are currently being addressed with government funding by groups within UEA, along with collaborating research groups across the UK and Europe.” The Nitrous Oxide Focus Group will engage with many influential organisations including the National Farmers Union, Marks & Spencer, British Sugar, Defra, the Country Land and Business Association and Unilever, UEA said. 70 per cent of N2O, better known as laughing gas, emissions are accounted for by agriculture, arising mainly from soil micro-organisms that make N2O from nitrogen-rich fertilisers added to soils to maximise crop yields. Other significant biological sources of N2O come from the wastewater treatment industries where the greenhouse gas is again produced from micro-organisms. The launch of the new consortium is underpinned by more than five years of interdisciplinary research at UEA and comes as significant new research on an N2O-generating enzyme from a widespread soil bacterium is published. The consortium's team of computer scientists, biologists, soil scientists, microbiologists, chemists and environmental scientists aims to develop a computational model of the process by which land-based bacteria produce nitrous oxide. The focus group will also concentrate on understanding the sources of this potent greenhouse gas, the chemistry and biology behind the production of nitrous oxide and its overall impact upon climate change. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 616 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.