Oil-based polyurethane-coated urea reduces nitrous oxide emissions in a corn field in a Maryland loamy sand soil

Author(s)

Bortoletto-Santos, Ricardo ^[1] ; Cavigelli, Michel A. ^{[2, 3]} ; Montes, Sheila E. ^[2] ; Schomberg, Harry H. ^[2] ; Le, Anh ^[2] ; Thompson, Alondra I. ^[2] ; Kramer, Matthew ^[2] ; Polito, Wagner L. ^[4] ; Ribeiro, Caue ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Embrapa Instrumentacao, LNNA, Rua 15 Novembro 1452, BR-13561206 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] USDA ARS, Sustainable Agr Syst Lab, Henry A Wallace Beltsville Agr Res Ctr, 10300 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville, MD 20705 - USA

^[3] USDA, Beltsville Agr Res Ctr, 10300 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville, MD 20705 - USA

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, IQSC, Campus Sao Carlos, Av Trabalhador Sao Carlense 400, BR-13566590 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION; v. 249, MAR 10 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Urea is the most widely used N fertilizer due to its high N concentration (46%), cost effectiveness and ease of handling. However, urea is susceptible to loss as N2O, a greenhouse gas and catalyst of stratospheric ozone decline. Polymer-coated fertilizers may be effective in reducing such losses but the appropriate coating thickness for effective field performance is unknown. We prepared urea granules with polyurethane coating (PCU) based on castor oil at 2%-8% by weight. We tested the fertilizer value of these materials for maize (Zea mays L.) and measured field loss of N2O. Maize grain yield and N uptake were similar in treatments fertilized with urea (uncoated) and each of the coated materials. Cumulative N2O-N per unit of grain yield, however, was reduced by 80% with PCU8% compared with uncoated urea. Results indicate that polyurethane-coated urea performs similarly to uncoated urea for maize production while reducing soil N2O emissions up to 60-80%, with an efficiency factor twice as high as that suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for N fertilizers. Our results indicate that urea with a polyurethane coating of 8% (PCU8%) had the best combined agronomic and environmental performance in a field study. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales
• Grantee: Roberto de Campos Giordano
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants