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June 28, 2023
By
Judith Magyar
Brand Contributor
Pioneering Green Ammonia To Secure The World’s Food
Supply
Global food security has been
threatened before. At the beginning of the 20th century, land was
becoming depleted of nutrients and less able to provide food for the
increasing population. Famine raged in many countries.
Until then, natural fertilizers had been the only way of increasing
crops, but supplies varied widely. Scientists at the time realized
that famine could be prevented if nitrogen, which is abundant in the
atmosphere, could be added to the soil. The challenge was to produce
large quantities at a reasonable cost.
Yara, now the world’s leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers, was
founded in 1905 to address this problem. Having established a unique
position as the industry's only global crop nutrition company, today
Yara is once again pioneering solutions to secure the world’s food
supplies. About 24% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, more
than 8 billion metric tons of CO2, stem from agriculture, forestry,
and other land use. Dramatically reducing that number is Yara’s goal.
Producing green ammonia
YARA
“We’re committed to a thirty percent reduction of scope 1 and 2
emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality on all scopes by 2050,” said
Stéphane Bungener, part of the Energy and Environment department at
Yara, at the recent TAC-sponsored International SAP Conference for
Energy in Basel, Switzerland. “That’s how to create a nature positive
path for the future of food.”
To reach its goals, Yara is working on reducing emissions and
introducing new technologies like carbon capture and the use
of renewable hydrogen to produce its ammonia, which does not emit
CO2 when consumed.
Switching to clean ammonia
Ammonia is a gas widely used to make agricultural fertilizers. It
binds airborne nitrogen, the most important crop nutrient, making it
available for fertilizer production. With 50 percent of the world’s
food production depending on fertilizer application, ammonia literally
helps put food on the table.
Producing green, or clean, ammonia is at the heart of Yara’s strategy.
Unlike conventional ammonia, which is produced using natural gas as
feedstock, green ammonia is produced using one hundred percent
renewable and carbon free hydrogen in an electrolyzer. The
electrolyzer works by extracting hydrogen from water which is then
combined with nitrogen taken from the air to make green ammonia.
Tackling scope 1 emissions requires reducing Yara’s direct emissions
related to its ammonia production. Scope 2 is about using clean power
from the grid to run its machinery. Yara aims to reduce emissions by
thirty percent by 2030. Ten percent of this reduction will be achieved
with commonsense projects across global operations relating to N2O
emissions abatement, energy efficiency, and energy management. The
remaining twenty percent will stem from the use of clean power, green
ammonia, low-carbon ammonia, and renewable energy sources.
But the really exciting part for Bungener and the team at Yara is the
development of an increasingly green market on a collaborative level.
“Customers are eager to start spending money on clean products. Many
of them have their own decarbonization targets and are willing to buy
decarbonized products,” said the green ammonia expert.
According to Bungener, chain of custody systems are an important way
to enable the development of this market. These must ensure that every
step in the process is monitored and third-party verified.
Proving it’s green
“We’re looking at a system where complexity is increasing
significantly,” said Bungener, explaining that what traditionally had
been a commodity is now becoming a differentiated product, depending
on new, clean production pathways and the buyer’s specific needs
relating to compliance requirements of voluntary and reglementary
schemes. “Even though it might be the same molecule, it has to be
described differently, and its carbon footprint may have a different
value depending on its production pathway and the methodology required
by customers.”
Bungener was pleased to say that Yara already has customers embarking
on this journey. Customers are buying products that will be
manufactured in Germany with green ammonia produced in Norway. Yara
will make use of its ammonia transfer system to virtually transfer the
green ammonia from Norway to Germany, thus avoiding additional
transport emissions related to shipping.
“It’s crucial to show customers that we deliver what we promise to
maintain trust and credibility, and that they will be the only ones to
claim the benefit of the green ammonia. We are in the early stages of
the transition. Such mechanisms are required until we can scale up
full supply chains of clean ammonia,” said Bungener.
As custmers expect accuracy of claim, transparency on methodology, and
no risk of greenwashing claims, it’s Yara’s job to demonstrate that no
double counting takes place. The company’s credibility depends on its
ability to make and log green exchanges and submit them for annual
auditing by third party experts in assurance and risk management. Yara
relies on new auditing tools and standards along with systems such as
SAP governance, risk, and compliance solutions to deliver a
differentiated product that meets all the requirements of their
customers.
“Together with our customers, we are pioneering the use of new, clean
production technologies and creating a positive impact for them and
for the climate,” Bungener concluded.
Years of engagement with external benchmarking initiatives and ESG
analysts such as the World Benchmarking Alliance, MSCI,
Sustainalytics, EcoVadis,
and CDP have
helped Yara close several information gaps to improve transparency in
its reporting. Yara intends to continue along this avenue to share
progress towards its sustainability goals.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
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