alt Hacker NewsIndustrial production of isoprene is about 800,000 tons/year. Global emission from plants of the chemical is about 600 million tons/year.
In the US, the large natural emission of isoprene is why emission control for vehicles shifted to focus on NOx emission.
That's why I changed the title to better reflect the aspirations of the Smithsonian. Because some people might take "plants" to mean "chemical plants" :)
Less ironically, there was a HN submission this week finding cryptic isoprene emission in soybean. You know, famous for the GM.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2502360122