'Lightning' in a bottle could create green ammonia for farmers

After a thunderstorm, you may have noticed that plants become greener and lusher, more so than after an average rainy day.

Key points: A vineyard trial near Auburn in southern Australia has tried to produce nitrogen fertilizer using 'lightning' in a bottleDevelopment of non-thermal plasma unit technology could help farmers produce their own nitrogen fertilizerIf it is powered by solar panels it could be a green option for fertilizer production

This is because lightning has the ability to "fix" nitrogen in the air make it available for plants.

A trial on a vineyard near Auburn in South Australia attempted to replicate this process, effectively creating "lightning in a bottle".< /p>

The work grew out of the development of a technology called a non-thermal plasma unit that i effectively acts as a controlled lightning bolt, or an arc welder.

Researcher G reg Butler is commissioning and testing the technology, to see if it can effectively replicating the natural nitrate creation process found in thunderstorms.

To do this, he implemented a system where air is forced into a container of water at using an air compressor.

Non-thermal plasma unit creates an a rc, like lightning, in water and when water passes in front of it, it creates nitric oxide (Cassandra Hough)

Given nitrogen is about 78% from the atmosphere, air becomes the source of nitrogen.

"If you imagine having an arc welder in a beaker of water, then running nitrogen 'air beyond, it effectively mimics lightning in a very controlled way,' he said.

The unit breaks down the molecular forms of nitrogen and oxygen in the air and they are reformed as nitric oxide and dissolved in water.

"From there we harvest that nitrogen into a liquid and then our goal is to push it through the fertigation system," Butler said.

Fertigation is the process of adding dissolved fertilizer to crops through an irrigation system .

Liquid fertilizer for farmers

Michael Paxton is the director of the vi Randall Wine Group's gnoble in Clare, where the trial is taking place.

The property already has a fertigation system, so he was keen to try the technology.

"Traditionally, fertigation is the most effective fertilizer, especially [to get] nitrogen to the roots - so we rehearsed some of that well," said Mr. Paxton.

"This technology, coming out of the sky, looks like a fantastic opportunity."