Cost-competitive decentralized ammonia fertilizer production can increase food security.

ABSTRACT: The current centralized configuration of the ammonia industry makes the production of nitrogen fertilizers susceptible to the volatility of fossil fuel prices and involves complex supply chains with long-distance transport costs. An alternative consists of on-site decentralized ammonia production using small modular technologies, such as electric Haber-Bosch or electrocatalytic reduction. Here we evaluate the cost-competitiveness of producing low-carbon ammonia at the farm scale, from a solar agrivoltaic system, or using electricity from the grid, within a novel global fertilizer industry. Projected costs for decentralized ammonia production are compared with historical market prices from centralized production. We find that the cost-competitiveness of decentralized production relies on tr

SUBMITTER: Tonelli D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11199140 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature