Nitrous Oxide now Top Ozone-Depleting Substance »

RSS Join the Discussion

Comments So Far: 4 (view all)

- Display No Filter Fair Comments - 25% and above Good Comments - 50% and above Excellent Comments - 75% and above

• Neutral

  Wolfie20073 months, 3 weeks ago

  This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

  Please no more junk science.
  
  Farmers do not use nitrous oxide as fertilizer and it is not produced by animal waste that is called ammonia nitrate and methane.
  Going a long way back to chemistry, I seem to remember N2O as breaking down into NO, nitric oxide and being one of natures ozone regulators, without which the earth would be subject to radiational cooling that would plunge us into a new ice age so cold that almost nothing could survive.

  (comment_max_expanded_depth : 2) (comment depth : 2) (recursion depth : 1) (max_comment_reply_depth : 40) (comment_max_render_depth : 3)

  Reply

  2 Replies

  loading ...
  • Neutral

    earthlingerer3 months, 3 weeks ago

    This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

    Nitrification of ammonia (a common fertilizer feedstock - anhydrous is often stolen to make meth) produces nitric oxide.
    Nitric oxide is a radical, and I doubt your "way back" chemistry even included such topics.
    
    Ignorance is evil, and you're the clown prince of darkness, woofie.

    (comment_max_expanded_depth : 2) (comment depth : 3) (recursion depth : 2) (max_comment_reply_depth : 40) (comment_max_render_depth : 3)

    Reply

    1 Reply

    loading ...
    • 0%

      chevydog3 months, 3 weeks ago

      This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

      I wished that the link to the story worked ; but it locked up my computer.
      
      Anyway, wolfie is partly right and so are you. The major nitrogen fertilizers are ammonium nitrate and to a lesser degree urea. Sometimes farmers will inject gaseous ammonia directly into the ground. If one is dealing with very expensive labor for applying nitrogen fertilizer, there are also some polymeric slow release types as well as various types of coated urea. I've never seen any of the biological mechanisms by which plants use these things; but I'd be shocked if one of the by-products is nitrous oxide (N2O).
      
      Nitric acid is made by passing an ammonia/air mixture over platinum/rhodium catalyst. By-products include nitric oxide (NO, a colorless gas) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2, a red-brown gas in high concentrations).
      
      I worked as an engineer in the fertilizer industry for twelve years; and then for 23 in oil additives, in which we were extensively involved in auto engine testing. Can't say that in either I heard any mention of concern about nitrous oxide (by our own engineers or by govt types) during any of that time. That's why the title of the article puzzled me; a shame I couldn't access it.
      
      Nitric oxide (NO) is produced by boilers, nitric acid manufacture, and diesel engines. It's not nearly so much of a problem for gasoline engines because they run much cooler and with less excess air. Not sure where alternatives like alcohol engines fit in.
      
      I thought that the poster must have somehow gotten the title of the article wrong; but the little I was able to access showed the molecular structure of nitrous oxide (N2O) properly. I really can't make any more knowledgable comment until I've seen the whole article. But I have a sneaking suspicion that somewhere along the chain that nitrous got inadverdently substituted for nitric.

      (comment_max_expanded_depth : 2) (comment depth : 4) (recursion depth : 3) (max_comment_reply_depth : 40) (comment_max_render_depth : 3)

      Reply

      0 Replies

      loading ...
• Neutral

  earthlingerer3 months, 3 weeks ago

  This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

  Nitrous oxide is recognized by the EPA as a greenhouse gas because it depletes ozone.
  
  Even the NOAA just did a write up. Read and learn: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090827_...
  
  This realization is relatively new, having been revealed inthe past twenty five years.

  (comment_max_expanded_depth : 2) (comment depth : 2) (recursion depth : 1) (max_comment_reply_depth : 40) (comment_max_render_depth : 3)

  Reply

  0 Replies

  loading ...

View All 4 Comments

More News