From Fertilizer to Fuel: Can ‘Green’ Ammonia Be a Climate Fix?

Ammonia has been widely used as a fertilizer for the last century. Now, using renewable energy and a new method for making ammonia, researchers and entrepreneurs believe “green” ammonia can become a significant clean fuel source for generating electricity and powering ships.

 
Ammonia has been widely used as a fertilizer for a century. But as our contributing editor Nicola Jones writes at Yale Environment 360 this week, scientists and companies are working on a new clean method of producing “green” ammonia, which they believe can be used for generating and storing electricity, powering ships, and other uses. Researchers are increasingly confident that green ammonia can be generated at a large scale and converted to a liquid fuel. Green ammonia plants are being built in various countries, with one facility in Louisiana projected to produce 20,000 tons by 2023. A key challenge is cost. But as Jones explains, the price is expected to steadily fall as the technology advances. Read her article.