Uzbekistan plant Credit: Casale
Nitrous oxide emissions from hundreds of chemical plants globally, 300 times more warming than CO2, are the greenhouse equivalent of 45 million cars. A Uzbekistan plant employs low-cost, state-of-the-art abatement technology, reducing 97% or more of these emissions. It taps natural gas to produce nitric acid, a chemical used to make fertilizer. There are approximately 580 nitric acid plants worldwide, only about a quarter abating their nitrous oxide emissions. Plants like the one cited are the future.