University of Virginia
IN-2: Innovation 2

Nitrogen compounds are divided into two groups: non-reactive (N2) and reactive nitrogen (Nr). Reactive nitrogen is vital to living organisms, but uncontrolled releases of reactive nitrogen can result in serious detrimental impacts to the environment. In the last few decades, human production of reactive nitrogen has outpaced production from natural terrestrial ecosystems. The abundance of reactive nitrogen in the environment is linked to forest die back, ocean acidification, eutrophication, climate change, ozone holes, smog, and other environmental effects.

The University of Virginia has been a long-time leader in research about the benefits and detrimental impacts of reactive nitrogen on the environment. Environmental Sciences Professor James Galloway was awarded the 2008 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for his work in elucidating the concept of the "nitrogen cascade" to describe the impacts of fertilizer and fossil fuel byproducts on the environment.

In recent years, University researchers have pursued innovative programs to translate research into tools to reduce both personal and institutional nitrogen footprints.

The N-Print Calculator:
The N-Calculator is a tool that allows individuals to calculate their nitrogen footprint. The tool in its current form can also be scaled for use by communities, organizations, or countries. Users answer questions about resource consumption in four areas (food, housing, transportation, goods and services). The N-Calculator, which starts with the average per capita consumption of these four categories in a country, is then scaled to the individual based on the user’s answers to the questions.

The production and consumption of food typically makes up the largest proportion of a person’s nitrogen footprint. In the United States, food production and consumption make up 80% of the average per capita N footprint. Currently, there are N-Calculator tools available for the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. N-Calculators for other countries, including China, Tanzania, India, the UK, and Portugal, are in development.

The team behind the N-PRINT project is made up of nitrogen researchers from many organizations:
James Galloway and Allison Leach from the University of Virginia
Albert Bleeker and Jan Willem Erisman from the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands
Richard Kohn from the University of Maryland

N-PRINT is an INI (International Nitrogen Initiative) project. INI strives to both "minimize the negative effects of nitrogen on human health and the environment" and "optimize the beneficial role of nitrogen in sustainable food production."

Nitrogen Environmental Footprint Reduction Plan:
The Environmental Footprint Reduction Plan (EFRP) assesses the University’s environmental performance in phases addressing four areas: greenhouse gases, materials, water, and nitrogen. Each phase of the Plan summarizes the University’s impact in one of these areas, assesses current trends, establishes a target for future reductions, and proposes key strategies to meet this target.

The Nitrogen EFRP is the first effort to quantify and reduce the nitrogen footprint of a college or university. The plan includes a nitrogen footprint inventory for UVA, which quantifies nitrogen emissions associated with campus heating plants, vehicles, purchased electricity, food waste, fertilizer, and most significantly, purchased food production and transport.