Nitrous oxide its concentration has increased 15% since 1750, control of nitrous oxide is considered part of efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A 2008 study by Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen suggests that the amount of nitrous oxide release attributable to agricultural nitrate fertilizers has been seriously underestimated, most of which presumably, would come under soil and oceanic release in the Environmental Protection Agency data. Nitrous oxide also has been implicated in thinning of the ozone layer. A new study suggests that emission currently is the single most important ozone-depleting substance (ODS) emission and is expected to remain the largest throughout the
Nitrous oxide dominant. In a vacuum thruster, this may provide a monopropellant specific impulse ("I") of as much as 180 s. While noticeably less than the "I" available from hydrazine thrusters (monopropellant or bipropellant with dinitrogen tetroxide), the decreased toxicity makes nitrous oxide an option worth investigating. Nitrous oxide is said to deflagrate at approximately at a pressure of 309 psi (21 atmospheres). At 600 for example, the required ignition energy is only 6 joules, whereas at 130 psi a 2500-joule ignition energy input is insufficient. In vehicle racing, nitrous oxide (often referred to as just "nitrous") allows the engine to burn