ODT: Greenhouse gases measured remotely

Tuangane Matangi reports, in the Otago Daily Times, on a new technology which enables scientists to measure nitrous oxides emissions from paddocks more easily and cost-effectively.

The technology, developed by AgResearch, allows gas samples to be taken from grass in paddocks without the need for manual, on site sampling.  Instead, closed chambers are placed on the grass in question, and then a specially-designed caravan is able to measure the emissions remotely and send the results back to the scientists in their offices.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Testing emission levels would quantify how much nitrous oxide or greenhouse gases were being emitted, and Dr van der Weerden said solutions to mitigate the emissions could then be developed.

“”In terms of reducing these emissions, it’s huge, because by 2013 agriculture will be part of the emissions trading scheme (ETS), and we need to find ways of reducing these gases for farmers to reduce the potential liability that they might pay,” he said.

“The caravan would be set up on a paddock and then scientists would be able to retrieve the sampling information remotely from their offices, instead of previous methods where manual samples had to be taken and sent to laboratories for analysis.”