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E360 Digest

October 11, 2023

In Global First, Farm in Kenya to Produce Fossil-Free Fertilizer On
Site

A fossil fuel-free ammonia plant at the Kenya Nut Company, near
Nairobi.

A fossil fuel-free ammonia plant at the Kenya Nut Company, near
Nairobi. Talus Renewables

The Kenya Nut Company, near Nairobi, will be the first farm in the
world to produce fertilizer, on site, that's free of fossil fuels.

A small fertilizer plant, built by U.S. startup Talus Renewables,
will use solar power to strip hydrogen from water; the liberated
hydrogen then bonds with nitrogen in the air to form liquid ammonia.
Every day, the plant will produce 1 ton of ammonia, which can be
applied to crops as fertilizer.

Typically, ammonia is made by stripping hydrogen from natural gas,
not water, in a process that unleashes large volumes of heat-trapping
carbon dioxide. Globally, the climate impact of ammonia production
rivals that of air travel.

Because ammonia production relies so heavily on natural gas, it is
also vulnerable to supply disruptions. Russia, a leading gas
producer, is the world's second-biggest maker of ammonia. Sanctions
imposed after its invasion of Ukraine have hindered fertilizer
exports, driving up prices globally. Farmers in East Africa have been
hit especially hard.

Green ammonia, made from water using clean power, promises to curb
the climate impact of fertilizer. If produced on site, it could have
the added benefit of insulating growers from supply shocks.

"The average bag of fertilizer in sub-Saharan Africa travels 10,000
kilometers," Talus founder Hiro Iwanaga told Bloomberg. With a small
green ammonia plant, like the one coming online in Kenya, "you can
locally produce a critical raw material, carbon free."

ALSO ON YALE E360

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

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