A Chinese Chemical Company Captures and Reuses 6,000 Tons of a Super-Polluting Greenhouse Gas

Linggas tanks have begun capturing and purifying waste nitrous oxide gas from the Henan Shenma Nylon Chemical Company in central China. Credit: Geng Xue, Linggas A Chinese industrial gas company recently took a noteworthy step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from chemical plants in China by capturing and reusing waste gas from the production of nylon. Linggas, a company based in Beijing that sells industrial gasses used in electronics manufacturing, began capturing and purifying waste nitrous oxide gas at a rate of 6,000 tons per year from the Henan Shenma Nylon Chemical Company in central China on September 15, according to a Linggas company official. Nitrous oxide, the "laughing gas" long used by dentists, is also a climate super-pollutant, nearly 300 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Chemical plants that manufacture adipic acid, a key ingredient in the production of nylon and polyurethane, release vast quantities of nitrous oxide as an unwanted byproduct. The nylon and polyurethane the plants produce is used in everything from car parts to running shoes. Adipic acid manufacturing in China, where eleven chemical plants—including Henan Shenma’s—now produce nearly half of the world’s supply, generates hundreds of thousands of tons of […]

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