Photo: phosphonium salts
Each metric ton of ammonia produced today contributes to roughly 1.9 metric tons of greenhouse emissions and accounts for roughly 1.8 per cent of global carbon emissions. Demand for it will reach 350 million metric tons per year by 2050. Ammonia (NH3) is a globally important commodity for fertiliser production. It’s currently produced via a metal catalysed reaction between nitrogen gas and hydrogen from natural gas, an extremely carbon intensive method that requires high temperatures and pressures in large reactors in large industrial plants. A new process based on phosphonium salts allows production of ammonia and fertilisers from renewable energy in reactors, as small as a refrigerator, usable at the individual farm or community level. It’s possible that the use of carbon-neutral production technologies could also see ammonia used as a fuel and replace fossil fuels by 2050.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210610150110.htm