In the realm of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide is often singled out as the primary culprit. However, a more potent gas, nitrous oxide, is emitted by small organisms thriving in agricultural fields. Scientists have been on the lookout for ways to address this issue.
Some researchers now believe they have identified a bacteria that can help in this regard.
According to a recent publication in Nature, extensive lab and field experiments demonstrated that the naturally occurring bacteria significantly reduced nitrous oxide emissions without disrupting other soil microbes. The bacteria also exhibited good survival rates in soil and could be produced at a relatively low cost.
“I believe that this breakthrough paves the way for numerous new possibilities in bioengineering agricultural soil,” stated Lars Bakken, a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and one of the study’s authors.
Nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, has the capacity to warm the atmosphere 265 times more than carbon dioxide and can endure in the atmosphere for over a century. The heavy use of nitrogen fertilizer by farmers contributes to the increased production of nitrous oxide in soil, accounting for 6% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in 2022, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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