Fertilizer The greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are produced during the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizer. The effects can be combined into an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. The amount varies according to the efficiency of the process. The figure for the United Kingdom is over 2 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide equivalent for each kilogramme of ammonium nitrate. Nitrogen fertilizer can be converted by soil bacteria to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas. Through the increasing use of nitrogen fertilizer, which was used at a rate of about 110 million tons (of N) per year in 2012, adding to the
Acidic oxide Some non-metal oxides, such as nitrous oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), do not display any acid/base characteristics. Acidic oxides can also react with basic oxides to produce salts of oxoanions: Acidic oxides are environmentally relevant. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides are considered air pollutants as they react with atmospheric water vapour to produce acid rain. Although it is difficult to classify these oxides as acids, the property is manifest in reactions with bases. For example, carbon dioxide reacts with alkali. For this reason, alkali is kept in stoppered vessels to inhibit reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide. In geochemistry complex silicates