Nitrous Oxide: No Laughing Matter - Case Studies from Europe

Whilst water utility greenhouse gas emissions may typically comprise only one percent of country level emissions, increasing decarbonisation of electricity supplies is pivoting focus to direct process emissions of nitrous oxide and methane from water resources recovery facilities. Nitrous oxide emissions present considerable challenges for utilities’ paths to net zero – in particular monitoring and mitigating these emissions. Production pathways for nitrous oxide from nitrifying and denitrifying processes are yet to be fully understood and approaches to mitigation remain the subject of ongoing academic and industry research. This project summarises the progress of selected utilities in Europe – using case studies from Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Netherlands where progressive utilities are showing ambition and progress in understanding and reducing their nitrous oxide emissions.