Is it realistic to produce nitrogen fertilizer on-farm and reduce the agricultural sector’s greenhouse gas emission? Early-stage agric-tech companies, Atmonia and N2 Applied, say yes. It is possible. These two organizations have developed alternative approaches to generating fertilizer in shipping containers using renewable energy sources, which offer carbon-neutral production.
Food production accounts for 26% of global greenhouse gas emission. A drastic change in the current production of food and fertilizer’s usage would make a big difference to these eye-catching figures. This is one of the focus areas at the Agri-Tech event “putting the N in Farm Ng – solutions for on-farm Nitrogen Production” coming up on 24th March 2021.
Renewable alternative to energy intensive Haber-Bosch
The CEO of Atmonia, Guðbjörg Rist, says the present inorganic fertilizer production adopts an energy-intensive process.
She said, “The Haber-Bosch process splits hydrogen from coal and natural gas, creating free hydrogen ions, which combine with nitrogen gas in the air to form a raw product for inorganic fertilizer production called ammonia.”
She added, “The present facilities for ammonia production are huge factories, producing millions of tonnes of ammonia while also multiplying the amount of carbon dioxide.”
Rist also said, “Atmonia’s production process takes a distinctive approach. It employs an electro-chemical reaction to split nitrogen, which combines with hydrogen from air and water. This removes the need for coal or natural gas and reduces the energy requirement – can be sourced from renewables.”
The CEO also said, “Atmonia’s facility is carefully designed to produce hundreds of tonnes of ammonia from a unit of the size of a shipping container, creating a liquid fertilizer that can be produced, which can be produced close to the point of need.”
Cutting the carbon footprint of dairy farm by 27%
Nitrous oxide N2o, another greenhouse gas, is released when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied to soils. Methane and nitrous oxide are also produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This is the issue N2 applied is tackling by converting by-products, including slurry, into valuable nitrogen-enriched organic liquid fertilizer. The output of this process, NEO, is slightly acidic, and consequently, it promotes its stability. This approach, it decreases the amount of ammonia released into the air and eliminates methane emissions.
Chris Puttick of N2 Applied said, “Our technology can reduce the carbon footprint of a dairy farm by 27% and produce a valuable organic fertilizer with three times the crop available nitrogen in a slurry.”
Nitrogen exists in different forms in the environment, and total nitrogen (NH4, NO3 and NO2) need to be considered within a nutrient management plan for the crop. This is most applicable to the farm that lies within a vulnerable nitrate zone (NVZ).
Research trials of NEO have shown that the nitrogen available to the crop is eventually three times higher than the untreated slurry. When this treated slurry was applied to a grass sward, it elevated the yield by 41% over two cuts.
Use of nitrogen is also important
According to Professor Andrew Neal of Rothamsted Research, the way with which nitrogen is applied to the soil is crucial. The results indicate that decades of artificial fertilizer inputs on UK soil is without a corresponding organic matter return have disrupted the carbon and nitrogen balance in the soil. This changed the way microbes get their energy, which in turn altered the soil structure.
Also, soil with high nitrogen content in the experiment, but low carbon content had an altered microbial community. This was associated with fewer pores and connectivity in soil. As the pores close up and oxygen in the soil is lost, microbes had to shift to nitrogen and sulphur compounds for their energy source. This inefficient process drains nutrients from the soil and results in increased emissions of N2O.
Along with Andrew Neal of Rothamsted Research and Chris Puttick of N2, GuðbjörgRist of Atmonia, they will discuss nitrogen production and use at the Agri-Tech E event “Putting the N in FarmNg – Solutions for On-Farm Nitrogen Production” on Wednesday 24th March, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm prompt.
