Nothing to laugh about, but reason for hope.
Nothing to laugh about, but reason for hope.
"In order to defy climate change, we need new approaches for the reduction of greenhouse gases," says Prof Dr Jan Paradies from Paderborn University. Together with his team, the chemist has now come a big step closer to this goal. The scientists have succeeded in decomposing the ozone-depleting nitrous oxide into harmless components using metal-free catalysis and at low temperatures. The results were published in the internationally renowned "Journal of the American Chemical Society".
"Nitrous oxide is one of the most potent ozone-depleting substances and has a global warming potential 265 times higher than CO₂. It causes around six per cent of global warming and is used in agriculture, industrial and medical processes. Since the industrial revolution, its concentration in the atmosphere has risen by 20 per cent. In view of these environmental impacts, there is a great need for research into new and efficient degradation methods," explains Prof Paradies.
Read More: Paderborn University
Image: Symbolic image (Credit: Paderborn University, Besim Mazhiqi)
