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Ammonia as fertilizer or as fuel?

 


Ammonia is "having a moment" as a possible alternative fuel.

Hydrogen had a moment a while back, but it has faded, and now ... the green-hype machine has turned to ammonia. 

It is possible to burn ammonia, and to do work thereby.  Further, ammonia is a molecule with no carbon atom, so a machine that burns ammonia won't be emitting any carbon dioxide. 

One big problem though, is this: ammonia is also a critical fertilizer. As in ... ammonia is poured onto the soil to help produce our food supply. Is it really a good idea to create a new use for ammonia, one that we are to regard as critical to saving the planet, that will compete with the fertilizer use?  thereby driving up the price of ... food?

I am reminded of the days, now long ago, when biofuels were having a moment.  This amounted to using corn to make booze and then mixing the booze with gasoline, as a gas-extender.  That still happens as it was entered into law, BUT nobody any longer thinks of it as a world saver.  The practice has increased the demand for corn, having at least a marginal effect of raising the global prices of what is for many a dietary staple. 

Could we reduce carbon emissions by doing more of that?  Yes: we could also increase the rate of deaths by starvation in the process.

Now it is ammonia.  The difference is that diverting ammonia from fertilizer to fuel threatens not the supply of one specific food, but the supply of virtually everything deliberately grown. Ammonia by itself can serve as a fertilizer, or it can serve as a component in chemically more complicated fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate. 

My suspicion is that ammonia's moment as an energy source will not last long. 

I certainly hope, for the sake of our species, that a transition to a low-or-no emissions system of transportation is underway.  But we ought to have some skepticism about the green-hype machine.

In due course, my best guess is that the next dominant system will involve electric cars, an improved battery tech to run them efficiently, and a centralized grid that may be run on fusion reactors to recharge the batteries.

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  1. Paul D. Van PeltMay 11, 2025 at 5:18 PM

    Interesting information. I knew ammonia can be a component of powerful explosives. Anyone remembering Oklahoma remembers that, I think. Not being a chemist, I don't know what formulation would work in what sort of internal combustion engine if, and only if, we are still talking about such forces of locomotion. So, I can't know. And, can't know environmental impact of ammonia-based fuel(s). I suppose that will be examined, eh, ?

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