Science: nitrogen threat can be dealt with effectively

Petten - The May 16th issue of the scientific periodical Science devotes considerable attention to nitrogen-related problems. In one of the articles, ECN researcher Jan Willem Erisman and others set out the growing nitrogen-related problems and describe ways to limit them in order to prevent the effects from increasing excessively. This month, a new United Nations Task Force will also begin working on an integrated approach to nitrogen-related problems: an initiative that ECN has been working on for more than ten years.

In the Science article Transformation of the nitrogen cycle: recent trends, questions and potential solutions, Erisman and his co-authors describe the causes and effects of the problems related to nitrogen, as well as possible solutions. There is an increasing awareness that the intensification of agriculture and the ever increasing use of fossil fuels can also cause considerable damage to the environment and the climate through the production of nitrogen compounds. For instance, the production of nitrogen compounds ('reactive nitrogen') has increased by 120% since 1970. Erisman: “This is a real threat to our ecosystem and the health of the entire world population. Some of the consequences include: deterioration of human health due to the formation of nitrogen oxides, fine particles and ozone, damage to nature, decrease in biodiversity, acidification and fertilisation of ecosystems, deterioration of ground water quality, algae blooms in the oceans, climate change and deterioration of the ozone layer.”

The possible solutions that Erisman mentions in the article in Science include limiting the emissions of nitrous oxide (NOx). Nitrous oxide is released during the combustion of fossil fuels and can be removed from exhaust gases using existing technology or can even be avoided by conserving energy and/or the use of sustainable energy sources. More efficient use of (artificial) fertiliser in growing crops can also provide a significant contribution to solving the problem, and many tried and tested management measures are available to do so.

Task Force
The first meeting of the newly-formed Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN) will be held from the 21st to the 23rd of May at the Wageningen International Conference Centre (WICC). This meeting will provide a first opportunity to develop policy that tackles nitrogen-related problems in Europe expeditiously. As chairman of two large European network projects (COST 729 and Nitrogen in Europe), Erisman is the driving force behind the creation of the Task Force, which will present the results of a Europe-wide assessment of the problems relating to nitrogen in 2009.

Jan Willem Erisman is the Unit Manager for Biomass, Coal and Environmental Research (BKM) at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN).

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Note to the editors
For more information, please contact:

Jan Willem Erisman
Tel.: +31 224-56 4155
Mobile: +31 6 5119 0101
E-mail: erisman@remove-this-part-ecn.nl

Frans Stravers
Communications Manager
Tel : +31 224-564136
Mobile: +31 6 10859900
E-mail: stravers@remove-this-part-ecn.nl

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