When most people think of ammonia, they think of a cleaning product. However, ammonia, which is composed of nitrogen and hydrogen, is one of the most critical chemicals manufactured around the world.
More than 80% of ammonia produced each year is used in agriculture, either as a fertilizer or as the building block for other fertilizers. It is the nitrogen content of ammonia that is the key. When nitrogen is applied to crops before and during growing seasons, it significantly increases yields, allowing farmers to grow more food on less land.
Along with improved farming practices and seed technology, fertilizer helped dramatically increase global food production. In fact, it is estimated that about half of the food produced today would not be possible without fertilizer.
A Clean Energy Source
The world is turning to ammonia for another critical use: as a clean energy source. It is the hydrogen content of ammonia that is the key. Hydrogen has emerged as a leading clean energy source to help the world achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Ammonia fits into the future because it is an efficient way to access hydrogen. Because ammonia does not emit carbon when combusted, industries such as marine shipping and power generation are evaluating and piloting the use of ammonia as a clean fuel itself. Ammonia is also one of the most efficient ways to transport and store hydrogen.
But there is a challenge to overcome: Ammonia production is an energy-intensive process and, as a result, has significant carbon emissions associated with its manufacture. To fully unlock the potential of ammonia as a clean energy source requires a production process that is much less carbon intensive than today.
A Sustainable Future
CF Industries is embracing this challenge. The company is the world’s largest producer of ammonia, manufacturing approximately 10 million tons of ammonia per year across its network. CF Industries does this safely and efficiently, achieving among the highest utilization rates in its industry.
Two years ago, the company set out to decarbonize its ammonia production process, both out of a commitment to operate more sustainably and to enable ammonia’s use as a clean energy source. In addition to identifying approximately 40 projects that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its network, CF Industries is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in practical, shovel-ready projects to produce decarbonized ammonia.
First, it is building North America’s first commercial-scale green ammonia production capacity at its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana. Under construction today, the company is installing one of the largest electrolyzers in the U.S. at the facility, enabling existing ammonia plants to use hydrogen from water, rather than natural gas. Once complete it will provide enough “green” hydrogen to produce 20,000 tons of green ammonia per year.
The company is also building facilities that enable the production of “blue” ammonia. A chemical process is considered “blue” when CO2 emissions are captured before their release into the air, making the process more carbon-neutral. CF Industries will capture, dehydrate and compress up to 2 million tons of CO2 per year – CO2 that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere – so that it can be sequestered permanently a mile under the earth using safe and proven technology. In doing so, up to 1.7 million tons of the ammonia it produces will earn the designation of blue ammonia.
CF Industries is proud to be dramatically lowering its own carbon footprint while helping hard-to-abate industries lower their own carbon intensity. With decades of unparalleled expertise and proficiency in ammonia production, the company is at the forefront of the emerging use of ammonia as a clean energy source, helping fulfill its mission to provide clean energy to feed and fuel the world sustainably.
