There are lots of discussions on lots of different topics in the world of climate and environment these days. Carbon seems to dominate the discussion, but there are other issues.
One of them is fertilizer use. For a lot of reasons, fertilizer has made the 20th century and 21st century population growth possible, and we're able to feed a lot more people than anyone expected half a century ago because of it. But the problem is, we use too much, even when we use it carefully, and a lot of places don't. The result is bad ocean waters, overgrown with floating algae (like what happened in China about a month ago) and no-oxygen 'dead zones' on the bottom of a lot of coastal areas and bays, like my local Chesapeake.
But... a scientist has discovered a way to infect plant roots with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria. A few plants (legumes) fix nitrogen naturally, but most plants don't. This guy... well, read this part quoted from the article:
Professor Edward Cocking, Director of The University of Nottingham's Centre for Crop Nitrogen Fixation, has developed a unique method of putting nitrogen-fixing bacteria into the cells of plant roots. His major breakthrough came when he found a specific strain of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in sugar-cane which he discovered could intracellularly colonise all major crop plants. This ground-breaking development potentially provides every cell in the plant with the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The implications for agriculture are enormous as this new technology can provide much of the plant's nitrogen needs.Now, not only can this help food crop plants, it can also help biofuel feedstock plants (like switchgrass and corn). Removing the need for fertilizer (corn needs a lot) substantially reduces the energy required to raise the crop, reduces the amount of nitrogen in the runoff, and increases yield.
This is exciting.
This is real.
This is HUGE.
Some people talk about changing the world; Prof. Cocking's discovery very likely will. For the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment