The Biden administration announced a plan to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from chemical plants, aiming for significant greenhouse gas reductions through cooperation with China.
The U.S. and China aim to reduce nitrous oxide emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, through a cooperative agreement.
Nitrous oxide, 273 times more potent than CO2, significantly contributes to climate change and ozone depletion.
Industry leaders and policymakers discussed these initiatives at a White House summit, emphasizing voluntary industry participation and carbon credits.
Key quote:
“This is a big opportunity. The fruit is large, it’s low [hanging], it’s ripe.”
— Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council
Why this matters:
Nitrous oxide emissions are a major driver of climate change and ozone layer depletion. Reducing these emissions could have a substantial impact on global greenhouse gas levels, comparable to removing millions of cars from the roads.
The nitrous oxide emissions from hundreds of chemical plants globally, 300 times more warming than carbon dioxide, are the greenhouse equivalent of 45 million cars.
Amid polarised debate, Emily Kasriel asks how dairy farmers see the role of their industry in climate change – and finds a mixture of doubt, denial and commitment to change.
Emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) have surpassed projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, jeopardizing the goals of the Paris Agreement.
