Uses and Needs

Exploring Ammonia's Diverse Applications

Discover the versatile uses and pressing needs of ammonia across key industries in a changing world.

With the energy transition in full swing, the global demand for low carbon solutions requires immediate action. Projected figures predict that the global ammonia market will grow by nearly 400 billion USD by 2028. Ammonia is found today in multiple industries. With LANH3 we are primarily focussing on the application of ammonia in fertilizers, power storage, shipping fuel, and in the chemical industry.

Fertilizers

Fueling Agriculture's Growth

Agriculture accounts for roughly 80 percent of the world’s ammonia use. This is the case because half of the world’s food production depends on mineral fertilizer application. Fertilization improves plant nutrition, promotes plant growth, improves crop quality, and ultimately maintains and even enhances soil fertility. As an important base material for fertilizers, ammonia is essential for our food industry. Due to the increasing world population, our demand for food is growing which results in a constant growth in fertilizer consumption. As mentioned before, agriculture accounts for roughly 80 percent of the world’s ammonia use which indicates the growing demand for green/blue ammonia in the coming years.

Power Storage

Efficient Energy Storage

Ammonia can be deployed at scale and is relatively easy to transport. Therefore it is a solid solution for large amounts of energy storage and long distance renewable energy transportation. Ammonia can be stored in tanks, and converted back into electricity when needed. This can be done through traditional combustion methods or by a relatively new process called “cracking” where the ammonia is split into hydrogen and nitrogen. In the latter method, the ammonia is used as a hydrogen carrier in which the hydrogen can be used in hydrogen fuel cells to power devices. Because of the extra step of converting the hydrogen into ammonia, some efficiency loss occurs. This makes ammonia primarily attractive as an energy carrier for sustainable Mondial energy systems in the long run. Besides this, the compactness of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier is a great advantage with an eye on the transport possibilities, comparable with that of natural gas.

Shipping Fuel

Green Shipping Fuel

This is the case because half of the world’s food production depends on mineral fertilizer application. Fertilization improves plant nutrition, promotes plant growth, improves crop quality, and ultimately maintains and even enhances soil fertility. As an important base material for fertilizers, ammonia is essential for our food industry. Due to the increasing world population, our demand for food is growing which results in a constant growth in fertilizer consumption. Agriculture accounts for roughly 80 percent of the world’s ammonia use which indicates the growing demand for green/blue ammonia in the coming years.

Chemical Industry

Chemical Revolution

Another application of ammonia is its use in the chemical industry where it provides opportunities for a sustainable revolution. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s ammonia is used to manufacture intermediate and end products such as fiber-based materials, polymers, plastics, and rubber. Eliminating fossil-based ammonia production from the value chains of only the packaging and clothing industry would significantly reduce the carbon footprint.