Norwegian scientists have isolated a soil bacterium that eats laughing gas. With a new technique developed at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, the bacteria can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laughing gas is often called “the forgotten greenhouse gas”. However, it is the third most important greenhouse gas after CO2 and methane. It warms the earth around 300 times more than CO2 and damages the ozone layer. Most of the emissions come from agriculture, from the production and use of fertilizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) have now found a new way of reducing these emissions using special bacteria in the soil that can eat the laughing gas. Fresh figures from a field study <\/em>show very promising results. The bacteria reduced N2O emissions from the soil by between 40 and 95 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We find these results incredibly exciting. The new method could provide us with a powerful new tool in the fight against global warming,” says Elisabeth Gautefall Hiis, a PhD-student on the project at NMBU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nitrogen-based fertilizers are used for crop cultivation worldwide. These fertilizers are crucial for our ability to produce enough food for the global population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many bacteria in the soil that absorb nitrogen. Unfortunately, these bacteria also produce the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, also called laughing gas, when they ‘eat’ the nitrogen, causing the gas to leak from the soil. The more we fertilize with nitrogen, the more of this greenhouse gas seeps into the atmosphere. This happens whether we use chemically produced artificial fertilizers or organic livestock manure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The amount of laughing gas in the atmosphere has been stable for thousands of years, but in the last 200 years, the quantity has increased significantly – in line with the growing global population and our increased food production, hence the addition of more artificial fertilizers. There is little to suggest that this trend will reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a real need for new solutions,\u201d says Hiis. \u201cWe have a major challenge because we need to maintain global food production while reducing N2O emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nUrgent need for new solutions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n