MIT Chemists Focus on Making Microbial Fertilizers Revolutionize Agriculture
Chemical fertilizer production makes up roughly 1.5% of greenhouse-gas emissions produced worldwide. These fertilizers are manufactured via an energy-intensive process that uses very high pressure to combine hydrogen and nitrogen from the air to make ammonia. Chemists from MIT hope to help decrease this carbon footprint by replacing some fertilizer with bacteria, as the latter is a more sustainable source. Bacteria can convert nitrogen gas to ammonia, which will not only offer plants the nutrients they need but also protect them from pests and regenerate soil. However, the bacteria are sensitive to humidity and heat, which makes it hard to…
