Ammonia is the main ingredient of fertilizers, and half of the world’s food production today relies on it.
“Green ammonia is seen as a very important fuel and renewable energy carrier if cost effective production methods can be developed,” says Douglas MacFarlane, a professor of chemistry at Monash who led the work.
The world produces about 180 million metric tons of ammonia every year, over 80 percent of which goes to fertilizer production.
To cut ammonia’s carbon footprint, scientists and chemical companies have been trying to instead use renewable energy for the power and to split water for hydrogen.
MacFarlane and his colleagues used special chemicals known as phosphonium salts to speed up the electrochemical process that reduces nitrogen.
The team aims to have a device that can produce 0.1 kg of ammonia per day by the end of next year, he adds, and a 1 metric ton per day unit by 2025.