Collaborative Research: RII Track-2 FEC: Promoting N2O- and CO2-Relieved Nitrogen Fertilizers for Climate Change-Threatened Midwest Farming and Ranching

合作研究：RII Track-2 FEC：为受气候变化威胁的中西部农业和牧场推广不含 N2O 和 CO2 的氮肥

• 批准号: 2316482
• 负责人: Shuang Gu
• 金额: $ 200万
• 依托单位: Wichita State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2316482&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RII; Track; FEC

With approximately 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes to 7% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020. 74% of N2O emission comes from agricultural fertilizer applications. The atmospheric concentration of N2O has been increasing at a rate of 2% per decade, driven largely by intensified fertilization in meeting the ever-growing demand for food, fiber, and energy. Despite the strong link to fertilization, N2O emission remains to be a complex problem arising from scientific, technological, economical, ecological, and societal factors. Understanding and therefore curbing N2O emissions urgently calls for effective collaborations through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. This NSF EPSCoR Track II FEC project brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Iowa State University (ISU) and Wichita State University (WSU) to explore and examine green urea that could enable the paradigm shift of fertilization towards N2O- and CO2-relieved farming and ranching. This research project has the potential to set the foundation of fostering collaborations and associations in both GHG N2O reduction and green fertilizer promotion across academia, government, industries, agriculture, and communities, therefore strengthening the sustained R&D capacity and competitiveness. While producing green fertilizers, the capture of waste nitrogen and CO2 will also help protect ecological and environmental systems in Midwest areas from being stressed by existing non-sustainable practices, ensuring longer-term economic thriving and prosperity. The distributed feature of green fertilizer technology holds a great potential to create higher-wage jobs for local farming/ranching regions, especially for low-income minorities in rural areas, thus expanding capabilities and opportunities for agricultural communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.The overarching objective of this collaborative project is to promote N2O- and CO2-relieved nitrogen fertilizers (green urea as the focus) with economic resilience and environmental consciousness as an innovative way to mitigate the challenges posed upon climate change-threatened Midwest farming and ranching communities. Two EPSCoR jurisdictions, ISU in Iowa and WSU in Kansas, will work side-by-side to channel concerted efforts into the following research themes: i) the advanced separation for waste nitrogen capture and product purification; ii) the innovative electrolysis for synthesizing green urea; iii) the synergistic investigation of nitrogen sensing, modeling, and fertilizer utilization; and iv) the societal examination for community acceptance and policy changes towards green fertilizers. The success of this EPSCoR project will enable an electro-manufacturing system powered by renewable energy (wind and sunlight) to produce green nitrogen fertilizers that are fundamentally different from current thermo-manufacturing processes that consume non-renewable fossil energy (coal, petroleum, and natural gas), which alleviates agriculture’s impact on climate change, while ensuring the sustainability of Midwest farming and ranching. The research outcome will lead to deep understanding of GHG N2O emission, nitrate upcycling, urea synthesis, CO2 capture and conversion, and nitrogen fertilizer utilization in agriculture. It will also open a new avenue for new generations of technologies for N2O and nitrate sensing, anion-selective membrane, and efficient chemical manufacturing. Simultaneously, the project execution enhances research competitiveness and develops research capacity and infrastructure in Kansas and Iowa (both physical and human resources) and grows the participants’ reputation and competence in their fields. Based on great synergy between Kansas and Iowa in shared common problems and united interest in agricultural prosperity, two EPSCoR universities will offer a unique educational platform that aims at raising general public awareness in the Midwest on nitrogen-cycle management, as well as training the next-generation of workforce for sustainable agriculture. In particular, the EPSCoR team is partnering with the minority-serving institution, Dodge City Community College (DC3), in mentoring minority students and in training minority-teaching instructors in the closely aligned areas including “agricultural science” and “farm and ranch management”.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

一氧化二氮 (N2O) 的全球变暖潜力约为二氧化碳 (CO2) 的 300 倍，其排放量占 2020 年美国温室气体 (GHG) 排放量的 7%。其中 74% 的 N2O 排放量来自农业肥料施用。 N2O 一直以每十年 2% 的速度增长，这主要是由于为满足对食品、纤维和能源不断增长的需求而强化施肥所致。与施肥相关，N2O 排放仍然是一个由科学、技术、经济、生态和社会因素引起的复杂问题，因此迫切需要通过跨学科和跨学科研究进行有效合作。汇集了来自爱荷华州立大学 (ISU) 和威奇托州立大学 (WSU) 的多学科科学家团队，探索和研究绿色尿素，以实现施肥模式向 N2O 的转变该研究项目有可能为学术界、政府、工业、农业和社区在温室气体一氧化二氮减排和绿色肥料推广方面的合作和协会奠定基础，从而加强持续的研发能力。在生产绿色肥料的同时，捕获废氮和二氧化碳也将有助于保护中西部地区的生态和环境系统免受现有不可持续做法的压力，确保长期的经济繁荣和绿色的分布式特征。化肥技术具有巨大的潜力，可以为当地农业/牧场地区，特别是农村地区的低收入少数民族创造更高工资的就业机会，从而扩大受气候变化影响尤为严重的农业社区的能力和机会。这一目标的总体目标该合作项目旨在推广具有经济弹性和环境意识的不含氧化亚氮和二氧化碳的氮肥（以绿色尿素为重点），作为缓解受气候变化威胁的中西部农业和牧场社区面临的挑战的创新方式。 EPSCoR 辖区、爱荷华州的 ISU 和堪萨斯州的 WSU 将并肩努力，共同致力于以下研究主题：i) 废物氮捕获和产品纯化的先进分离；ii) 用于合成绿色尿素的创新电解法； iii) 氮传感、建模和肥料利用的协同研究；以及 iv) 对绿色肥料的社区接受度和政策变化进行社会审查。以可再生能源（风能、阳光）为动力，生产绿色氮肥的电化制造系统，与目前消耗不可再生化石能源（煤炭、石油、天然气）的热法制造工艺有本质区别，减轻了农业对环境的影响。研究成果将有助于深入了解温室气体一氧化二氮排放、硝酸盐升级循环、尿素合成、二氧化碳捕获和转化以及氮肥利用。它还将为新一代 N2O 和硝酸盐传感、阴离子选择性膜和高效化学制造技术开辟新途径，同时该项目的执行将增强堪萨斯州和爱荷华州的研究竞争力并发展研究能力和基础设施。基于堪萨斯州和爱荷华州在共同问题和对农业繁荣的共同利益方面的巨大协同作用，两所 EPSCoR 大学将提供一个独特的教育平台，旨在提高参与者在各自领域的声誉和能力。 EPSCoR 团队正在与少数族裔服务机构道奇城市社区学院 (DC3) 合作，提高中西部公众对氮循环管理的认识，并培训下一代可持续农业劳动力。在“农业科学”和“农场和牧场管理”等密切相关领域指导少数民族学生和培训少数民族教学教师。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和能力进行评估，被认为值得支持。更广泛的影响审查标准。