Optimised fertilizer use
Agriculture uses more fertiliser than necessary. This results in unnecessary emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.
Nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, is a greenhouse gas 310 times more powerful than CO2. For this reason, a small reduction in emissions can produce a large positive effect on the environmental balance. Agriculture is responsible for nearly half of all nitrous oxide emissions in Norway, and fertilizer is responsible for over a half of this. This is because the slurry consists of nitrogen, among other things, which forms nitrous oxide once it comes into contact with the air.
Some fertilising for agriculture cannot be avoided, but at the same time we know that a great deal of it can be cut out without a negative effect on crops. According to the research institute Bioforsk, the wheat grown in Norway is over-fertilised by at least 15 percent.
