{"id":14543,"date":"2024-03-06T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1404578"},"modified":"2024-03-06T09:00:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T09:00:33","slug":"ammonia-production-is-filthy-this-nitrolyzer-could-clean-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=14543","title":{"rendered":"Ammonia production is filthy. This \u2018nitrolyzer\u2019 could clean it up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ammonia is perhaps best known as a household cleaner or the chemical that makes your pee smell. Few might realise, however, that <\/span>half<\/span><\/a> of the world\u2019s food production relies on ammonia-based fertilisers produced in just a handful of countries. <\/span><\/p>\n

This clear, foul-smelling chemical is largely made by <\/span>superheating water, air, and natural gas under pressure \u2014 a process that emits vast quantities of carbon dioxide. <\/span>Ammonia synthesis is by far the <\/span>dirtiest<\/span><\/a> chemical manufacturing process in the world, responsible for about 1.8% of global CO2. That\u2019s more than the UK\u2019s total emissions last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a bid to clean up the sector, one startup<\/a> is developing what it calls a nitrolyzer \u2014 a container-sized machine that can produce ammonia using just water, air, and renewable electricity. The process, it claims, emits no carbon. <\/span><\/p>\n

The startup, aptly named Nitrovolt, was founded less than a year ago as a spinout from the Technical University of Denmark. Its nitrolyzer was developed by two scientists who have spent the last seven years at the cutting-edge of electrochemical ammonia synthesis research. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Late last year, Nitrovolt received a fellowship grant from Breakthrough Energy, a private sector funding programme <\/span>designed to tackle early-stage barriers to climate tech innovation. <\/span>And today announced it has secured its first pre-seed round \u2014 \u20ac750,000 from Swedish VC BackingMinds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the new funding, we\u2019re moving out of the university and hiring the competencies we need to scale our technology,\u201d said Mattia Saccoccio, CTO & co-founder of NitroVolt. <\/span><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s still early days, Nitrovolt has big plans, not just to decarbonise ammonia production, but to make fertiliser more accessible to those who need it most \u2014 farmers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Democratising nutrients   <\/b><\/h2>\n

The nitrolyzer system is designed to produce green ammonia directly at farms. All a grower needs is access to the grid (or to a solar or wind installation), water, and some air.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Once synthesis takes place, the ammonia would be funnelled into the existing irrigation system to be sprayed on crops. The farmer would be able to specify the concentration <\/span>they would like and the system would generate it on-demand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suzanne Zamany Andersen, the company\u2019s CEO & co-founder, told TNW that its first full-sized system is expected to generate around 150kg of ammonia per day \u2014 enough to cater to all of the nitrogen needs of an average Danish farm. This would require about 450 litres of water a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similar to a Tesla<\/a> battery pack, the nitrolyzer can be scaled up or down depending on requirement. You simply add or subtract one of the modules. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur technology makes it possible to produce ammonia locally and puts the end user in control of the production. This means that the production becomes resilient to supply chain volatility and green at the same time \u2013 something that doesn\u2019t exist on the market today<\/span>,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Andersen said.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Securing supplies<\/b><\/h2>\n

Russia is the world\u2019s largest <\/span>exporter<\/span><\/a> of ammonia, followed by China and the Middle East, putting Europe at risk of disruptions in supply of this critical fertiliser. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the war in Ukraine, for instance, the price of nitrogen fertiliser almost quadrupled, meaning many farmers <\/span>could not afford<\/span><\/a> to purchase it. This impacted <\/span>food security<\/span><\/a> across the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demand for ammonia is <\/span>predicted<\/span><\/a> to triple by 2050, the same year the sector must reach net zero emissions. This means demand for local and green ammonia production will accelerate quickly going forward, Andersen predicts.<\/span><\/p>\n

While very few startups are operating in this space so far, green ammonia production will likely present an increasingly attractive investment case going forward.  <\/span><\/p>\n

BackingMinds, for one, looks to be a first mover on the technology. Susanne Najafi, founding partner at the founder-led firm, said they had been \u201cactively seeking green alternatives for fertilisers for over two years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The firm bills itself as Europe\u2019s only VC focusing entirely on \u201cblind spots\u201d \u2014 <\/span>underinvested areas in critical industries.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the future, a<\/span>mmonia<\/span> could also play a key role in transporting and storing green hydrogen. The chemical could also itself be burned as a <\/span>zero-carbon fuel<\/span><\/a> for ships, planes, and c<\/span>ars. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we may be entering the era of pee-powered transport. <\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ammonia is perhaps best known as a household cleaner or the chemical that makes your pee smell. Few might realise, however, that half of the world\u2019s food production relies on ammonia-based fertilisers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}