A versatile group of experts from a wide range of backgrounds from academia to industry discussed sustainable agriculture and ammonia production during the most recent EuChemS policy workshop “The Nitrogen Element – Sustainable food production?” The event, held on 26 April, had a significant turnout, with participants attending from all around the world.

The workshop was chaired by Alessandra Quadrelli, and was opened by EuChemS president Floris Rutjes. In the morning session, Nicola Armaroli introduced the EuChemS periodic table, Nina Buchmann talked about the nitrogen cycle’s role in planetary boundaries, and Thoa Thi Minh Nguyen from Topsoe brought up the topic of a sustainable future in agriculture. In the afternoon, we heard much about innovative solutions, such as renewable fertilizers, from Rune Ingels, CTO of N2Applied, precision agriculture using drones from Wouter Maes, and the use of Annamox bacteria from Mike Jetten. Hydrocarbons, Earth System Sciences, and the UN environment committee’s policies in relation to nitrogen were also discussed by Bill David, Sarah Cornell and Mark Sutton respectively. Both the morning and afternoon sessions were concluded with enlightening panel discussions, polls and responses to the audience’s questions.

The recording of the event will soon be available on the EuChemS YouTube channel. Until then, you can refresh your memory by taking a look at the twitter thread recapping the events.