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Process challenges of green ammonia production

Nature Synthesis volume 2, pages 587–588 (2023)Cite this article

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Ammonia synthesis is one of the most important chemical processes as it sustains global food production, but it is a highly polluting and energy-intensive process. Here, the challenges of decarbonizing the process to synthesize green ammonia are discussed.

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Fig. 1: The intermittent and distributed nature of renewable energy supply is at the centre of the process challenges faced in the synthesis of green ammonia.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Fertiberia for allowing us to visit their green ammonia production plant at Puertollano, Spain, and particularly their COO, David Herrero, and plant director, José Antonio Cabello Granados. We also thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for funding through projects EP/X031683/1 and EP/X016757/1.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Laura Torrente-Murciano & Collin Smith

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  1. Laura Torrente-Murciano
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  2. Collin Smith
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Correspondence to Laura Torrente-Murciano.

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Competing interests

L.T.-M. is currently an independent member of the Fertiberia advisory board. C.S. declares no competing interests.

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Torrente-Murciano, L., Smith, C. Process challenges of green ammonia production. Nat. Synth 2, 587–588 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-023-00339-x

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