Clean Energy 101: Ammonia’s Role in the Energy Transition

Ammonia is essential for global food security via fertilizers and is emerging as a critical low-carbon energy carrier and maritime fuel. While current production relies on fossil fuels—contributing over 1% of global GHG emissions—the transition to 'green ammonia' via electrolysis and renewable energy offers a path to carbon neutrality. RMI forecasts a 113% increase in US ammonia production by 2030, driven by hydrogen exports to the EU and the adoption of ammonia-powered shipping, provided that technical challenges and NOx/N2O emissions are managed.

• Current global ammonia production is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, with the Haber-Bosch process utilizing hydrogen derived from natural gas and coal, resulting in an emissions profile that exceeds 1% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The carbon intensity of ammonia varies by feedstock: natural gas production generates 2.3 tons of CO2 per ton of NH3, while coal-based production can reach 3.9 tons of CO2 per ton of NH3.
• Green ammonia, produced using renewable electricity and electrolyzers to create hydrogen, can reduce production emissions to nearly zero and is cost-competitive in regions with high wind and solar resources, such as Northern Brazil, Western Australia, and the US Midwest.
• RMI projects that US ammonia production will grow by 113% by 2030, with significant demand expected from the EU (10 million tons per annum) for hydrogen exports and from the US shipping sector (3 million tons per annum).
• Ammonia is a preferred energy carrier over liquid hydrogen because its volumetric energy density is 1.5 times higher and it is more cost-effective to liquefy and transport via existing tanker infrastructure.
• While ammonia is a scalable low-carbon maritime fuel, its combustion can produce NOx and N2O; however, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) can mitigate NOx by over 95%, and combustion tuning can reduce N2O emissions to practically zero.

APA

RMI (2024). Clean Energy 101: Ammonia’s Role in the Energy Transition. https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-ammonias-role-in-the-energy-transition/

Chicago

RMI. Clean Energy 101: Ammonia’s Role in the Energy Transition. 2024. https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-ammonias-role-in-the-energy-transition/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Clean Energy 101: Ammonia’s Role in the Energy Transition |date=29 July 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-ammonias-role-in-the-energy-transition/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024clean, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Clean Energy 101: Ammonia’s Role in the Energy Transition}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-ammonias-role-in-the-energy-transition/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }