Australia’s fertiliser industry is working to decarbonise without compromising the country’s $90 billion agriculture industry.
Green ammonia, incentives to use nitrate inhibitors, and domestic fertiliser production are all being touted as possible solutions to the massive challenge of reducing emissions from fertilisers, which farmers say are essential to feeding a growing population.
Handful of urea
Urea is the world’s most commonly used nitrogen fertiliser.(ABC Wimmera: Andrew Kelso)
A white paper exploring options was recently handed to the federal government, with input from industry, which aims to promote a more efficient use of fertiliser rather than reduce the amount Australian farmers use.
Fertilizer Australia executive manager Stephen Annells said the industry must become more sustainable and is preparing for large-scale change.
A man sitting in courtyard wears a suit
Stephen Annells says Australia should be producing its own supply of nitrogen fertilisers.(ABC Landline)”We’re looking for new technologies and we’re looking for new farming practices that will reduce the amount of fertiliser that farmers need and reduce the emissions that come from those fertilisers, but not decrease the yields of their crop,” Mr Annells said.
Support for nitrogen inhibitor subsidy
Rob Norton from Norton Agronomic and the University of Melbourne was one of the authors of the white paper and said there were steps along the entire supply chain where greenhouse gas emissions could be addressed.
“I think if there were regulations about constraining and restricting the use of nitrogen fertilisers the impact on our $90 billion agricultural production industries would be significant,” Dr Norton said.
“The challenge is to balance the new technologies and the existing technologies to improve nitrogen efficiency and, at the same time, doing that will give a better environmental outcome for our planet which is critically warming at the moment.”
A close up of a a cow with its tngue out as it eats
Farmers are being told to start adapting now, with experts hopeful there will be incentives to help with the transition.(ABC Rural: Selina Green)
He pointed to the use of nitrification inhibitors, which slow the conversion of ammonium to nitrate, as one possible solution.
“There’s a lot of science gone into that, and I think one area that policy could look at is trying to incentivise the use of those inhibitors for farmers,” he said.
Dr Norton’s paper also recommended greater use of soil and plant testing, encouraging the adoption of precision agriculture, and the use of both green energy and green ammonia.
Green ammonia potential explored
Charles Day from Monash University said green ammonia could be made with little to no carbon dioxide emissions.
Profile photo of a man in a garden.
Dr Day says the technology used to make ammonia generates about 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of ammonia produced.(Supplied: Charles Day)
“The technology we use to mae ammonia today is pretty much the same as was invented just over 100 years ago,” Dr Day said.
“It accounts for somewhere between 1.5 and 2 per cent of global man-made CO2 emissions so it’s a big target in the global decarbonisation race.”
He says current technologies to make ammonia generated about 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of ammonia produced.
Dr Day is also chief executive of startup company Jupiter Ionics which is developing one of the technologies used to create green ammonia and make it more cost effective.
“We’re seeing already some large-scale plants that are adopting more mature technologies, but there’s also some new emerging technologies that are taking advantage of new discoveries in material science and other things,” he said.
He said there were opportunities for green ammonia to also be utilised for purposes other than fertiliser, including as a method to transport renewable energy out of Australia.
different types of tomatoes in market trays
Farmer are concerned that food production could be compromised if fertiliser use is restricted.(ABC Rural: Selina Green)
“About 80 per cent of the world’s man-made ammonia goes to fertiliser and that’s why it’s a primary interest for the farming community,” Dr Day said.
“But as we look into the future, green ammonia could play a role as a replacement for things like heavy fuel oil in international shipping.
“If we can make ammonia with no carbon emissions that could be a viable candidate to make international shipping carbon free.”