15th March 2023
Green ammonia is ammonia that is artificially produced by obtained energy from renewable sources. For instance, by breakdown the water into hydrogen molecules through electrolysis and combining this hydrogen with nitrogen obtained from the air through the Haber-Bosch process in the presence of an Iron catalyst, ammonia is generated that can be utilized for energy storage. While burning ammonia turns into nitrogen and water it could be considered carbon-free fuel.
Ammonia has been a widely accepted chemical that could be used as renewable energy storage, used as a fuel for transport fuel cell vehicles, as a reliable green fertilizer, and industrial energy source. Ammonia can be stored at ease in liquid form at a pressure of 10-15 bar or cooled at -33°C apt for chemical energy storage. Further, it is utilized for carrying hydrogen. Even though hydrogen has huge potential in various applications and it is a hard and high cost to store in larger quantities. The best way is to convert hydrogen into ammonia, store it and transfer it. At last, hydrogen can be retrieved easily from ammonia whenever needed. Its property is able used as burning energy with carbon-free emissions enabling ammonia to expand utilization to the maritime industry who focused on replacing fossil fuels to reduce the carbon footprint in their journey.
According to the research, the capacity of ammonia as an energy source is 9 times more powerful storage than lithium-ion batteries and 1.8 times rich energy fuel compared with liquid hydrogen. Thus, companies all over the world focused on producing ammonia at a reasonable rate using renewable sources with a focus on reducing carbon footprints.
The Global Initiative on reducing CO2 emissions and meeting the targets of 2030 and 2050 has created a demand for ammonia that has less carbon footprint among the automotive and maritime industries to utilize this ammonia as a combustion fuel and in fuel cells. At the same time, the need for ammonia as a fertilizer also growing in the food and agriculture sector. Since awareness among consumers prefers green ammonia over ammonia produced in the traditional way from fossil fuels to reduce carbon pollution during production. This allows the fertilizer manufacturer to utilize green ammonia to meet the demand. All these are involved in the high expansion of the green ammonia market in the upcoming years.
The Green Ammonia Market attained a value of $ 62.92 million in 2022. This market is predicted to rise from $110.11 million in 2023 to $ 5534.687 million in 2030 with a CAGR of 75% in the forecast period. This market was segmented based on production technology including alkaline water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane, and solid oxide electrolysis, on end users such as transportation, power generation, and fertilizers. The leading companies that focus on the Green Ammonia Market are Yara International, Siemens Energy, MAN Energy Solutions, Greenko, and ITM Power.
According to the market analysis, alkaline water electrolysis technology for producing green ammonia has shown huge market growth. Since it is engaged in the transportation of hydrogen fuel enhances the market in the current period. Further, the power generation end-user module has created a great improvement in the green ammonia market due to its utilization contribution to green fuel and reaching net zero carbon emissions.
While among countries, Europe contributes to significant growth in the green ammonia market worldwide. Since the green ammonia industries in European states are focused on hydrogen fuel developments and programs proposed by the government for upgrading hydrogen fuel in residential and commercial markets. North America holds a prominent position in this market with the investment in bio-oil missions and increases in the utilization of green fertilizers. Whereas, India and China are predicted to have significant growth in the current period due to increased industrial activities, and the prevalence of operating large-scale industries.
Blue ammonia is generated by combining nitrogen and hydrogen that is produced from the hydrocarbon process which has carbon-di-oxide as a by-product. The presence of carbon footprint is nil in the case of green ammonia production whereas, the emission of CO2 is reduced by 90% with innovation in blue ammonia production technology. Integrating gas-switching reforming technology into the production of blue ammonia has a considerable decrease in the cost. On the other hand, green ammonia stays at a high rate. It is an opportunity for the company to focus on developing green ammonia with reasonable production costs. The research conducted on the time horizon in climate change effect comparison using the Warming Potential Technology showed that methane leakage during blue ammonia production creates a worsening effect on climate change than green technology in a short time horizon.
It has been evident from the market scope of green ammonia that it is going to have a huge expansion in the current and upcoming years. It is essential for the leader prevalent in developing ammonia technology should focus on producing ammonia from renewable sources and establish the production technology that should mark the critical issue associated with lowering capital expenditure, and operational costs, and enhancing the energy quality.
The key players in supplying green ammonia should do widespread commercialization and a thorough understanding of the potential market niches. This would create an acceptance of using green ammonia leading to adopting this sustainable preference. Further, it boosts the global market of green ammonia production.