Researchers building green fertilizer system to reuse wastes, cut greenhouse gas emissions

Midwest researchers want to take some of the greenhouse gas emissions out of crop fertilizer.

Research teams from Iowa State University and Wichita State University in Kansas are teaming up to develop a system that captures waste nitrogen and carbon dioxide to produce a green fertilizer that reduces emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The system’s big goal, according to a research summary, “is to promote N2O (nitrous oxide)- and CO2 (carbon dioxide)-relieved nitrogen fertilizers with economic resilience and environmental consciousness as an innovative way to mitigate the challenges posed upon climate change-threatened Midwest farming and ranching communities.”