- •Abstract
- •Acknowledgements
- •Table of contents
- •List of figures
- •List of tables
- •List of boxes
- •Executive summary
- •Absent a change in course, ammonia production would continue to take an environmental toll
- •Towards more sustainable ammonia production
- •Near-zero-emission ammonia production requires new infrastructure, innovation and investment
- •Enabling more sustainable ammonia production
- •Chapter 1. Ammonia production today
- •Ammonia and society
- •Nitrogen fertilisers: An indispensable input to our modern agricultural systems
- •Demand, supply and trade
- •Ammonia production fundamentals
- •Current and emerging production pathways
- •A brief history of ammonia production
- •Natural gas reforming
- •Coal gasification
- •Near-zero-emission production routes currently being pursued
- •Economic considerations
- •Ammonia and the environment
- •Non-CO2 environmental impacts
- •Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions from fertiliser production and use
- •Impacts on water, soil, air and ecosystems
- •What will happen tomorrow to today’s CO2 emissions from ammonia production?
- •Chapter 2. The future of ammonia production
- •Three contrasting futures for the ammonia industry
- •The outlook for demand and production
- •The outlook for nitrogen demand, nutrient use efficiency and material efficiency
- •Nitrogen demand drivers
- •Measures to improve nitrogen use efficiency
- •The outlook for production
- •Technology pathways towards net zero emissions
- •Energy consumption and CO2 emissions
- •A portfolio of mitigation options
- •Innovative technology pathways
- •Overview of global and regional technology trends
- •China
- •India
- •North America
- •Europe
- •Other key regions
- •Considerations for the main innovative technologies
- •Dedicated VRE electrolysis
- •CCUS-equipped pathways
- •Readiness, competitiveness and investment
- •An array of technology options at differing levels of maturity
- •Exploring key uncertainties
- •Future production costs
- •Uncertainty in technology innovation
- •Investment
- •Chapter 3. Enabling more sustainable ammonia production
- •The current policy, innovation and financing landscape
- •Ongoing efforts by governments
- •Carbon pricing and energy efficiency measures
- •Support for near-zero-emission technology RD&D and early commercial deployment
- •Policies for improving efficiency of use
- •International collaboration
- •Encouraging progress in the private sector
- •Initiatives involving financial institutions and investors
- •Recommendations for accelerating progress
- •Framework fundamentals
- •Establishing plans and policy for long-term CO2 emission reductions
- •Mobilising finance and investment
- •Targeted actions for specific technologies and strategies
- •Managing existing assets and near-term investment
- •Creating a market for near-zero-emission nitrogen products
- •Developing earlier-stage near-zero-emission technologies
- •Improving use efficiency for ammonia-base products
- •Necessary enabling conditions
- •Enhancing international co-operation and creating a level playing field
- •Planning and developing infrastructure
- •Tracking progress and improving data
- •Key milestones and decision points
- •Annexes
- •Abbreviations
- •Units of measure
Ammonia Technology Roadmap |
Table of contents |
Towards more sustainable nitrogen fertiliser production |
|
Table of contents
Executive summary.................................................................................................................. |
8 |
Chapter 1. Ammonia production today................................................................................ |
14 |
Ammonia and society............................................................................................................ |
15 |
Nitrogen fertilisers: An indispensable input to our modern agricultural systems ..................... |
17 |
Demand, supply and trade ....................................................................................................... |
23 |
Ammonia production fundamentals ...................................................................................... |
26 |
Current and emerging production pathways ............................................................................ |
28 |
Economic considerations ......................................................................................................... |
39 |
Ammonia and the environment............................................................................................. |
43 |
An energyand emissions-intensive sector ............................................................................. |
45 |
Non-CO2 environmental impacts.............................................................................................. |
47 |
What will happen tomorrow to today’s CO2 emissions from ammonia production? ................ |
56 |
Chapter 2. The future of ammonia production.................................................................... |
61 |
Three contrasting futures for the ammonia industry............................................................. |
62 |
The outlook for demand and production............................................................................... |
65 |
The outlook for nitrogen demand, nutrient use efficiency and material efficiency ................... |
66 |
The outlook for production ....................................................................................................... |
78 |
Technology pathways towards net zero emissions .............................................................. |
82 |
Energy consumption and CO2 emissions................................................................................. |
82 |
A portfolio of mitigation options ................................................................................................ |
87 |
Innovative technology pathways .............................................................................................. |
89 |
Considerations for the main innovative technologies .............................................................. |
97 |
Readiness, competitiveness and investment ..................................................................... |
107 |
An array of technology options at differing levels of maturity ................................................ |
109 |
Exploring key uncertainties .................................................................................................... |
117 |
Investment.............................................................................................................................. |
123 |
Chapter 3. Enabling more sustainable ammonia production.......................................... |
129 |
The current policy, innovation and financing landscape..................................................... |
130 |
Ongoing efforts by governments............................................................................................ |
130 |
Encouraging progress in the private sector ........................................................................... |
137 |
Initiatives involving financial institutions and investors .......................................................... |
139 |
Recommendations for accelerating progress ..................................................................... |
141 |
Framework fundamentals....................................................................................................... |
143 |
Targeted actions for specific technologies and strategies ..................................................... |
146 |
Necessary enabling conditions .............................................................................................. |
153 |
Key milestones and decision points.................................................................................... |
158 |
PAGE | 5
IEA. All rights reserved.
Ammonia Technology Roadmap |
Table of contents |
|
Towards more sustainable nitrogen fertiliser production |
|
|
Annexes................................................................................................................................. |
|
161 |
Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... |
|
161 |
Units of measure................................................................................................................. |
|
162 |
List of figures |
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Fertiliser use and crop yield for wheat production ................................................... |
|
20 |
Nitrogen fertiliser demand and application rate by crop........................................... |
|
22 |
Apparent consumption and production of ammonia in 2019.................................... |
|
24 |
Mass flows in the ammonia supply chain from fossil fuel feedstocks to nitrogen |
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fertilisers and industrial products.............................................................................. |
|
27 |
Current and announced projects for near-zero-emission ammonia production....... |
35 |
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Simplified levelised cost of ammonia production for commercial and near-zero- |
|
|
emission production routes in 2020 ......................................................................... |
|
40 |
Energy consumption for and emissions from ammonia production in context, 2020 |
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.................................................................................................................................. |
|
46 |
Ranges of emission factors by fertiliser product for current process technology and |
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application practices................................................................................................. |
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52 |
Projected emissions from existing ammonia plants under different lifetime |
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assumptions ............................................................................................................. |
|
57 |
Geographic distribution and average age of ammonia production facilities in 2020 58 |
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Direct CO2 emissions from the chemical sector and ammonia production by |
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scenario and region.................................................................................................. |
|
63 |
Nitrogen demand by market segment and per capita .............................................. |
|
67 |
Nitrogen demand by final product by scenario......................................................... |
|
70 |
Contribution of use and material efficiency to ammonia demand by scenario......... |
74 |
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Ammonia and urea production by region for Stated Policies Scenario and |
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Sustainable Development Scenario ......................................................................... |
|
79 |
Direct CO2 emissions and energy consumption for ammonia production by scenario |
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.................................................................................................................................. |
|
84 |
Ammonia direct CO2 emission reductions in the Sustainable Development Scenario |
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by mitigation strategy ............................................................................................... |
|
89 |
Global ammonia production by technology and scenario ........................................ |
|
91 |
Ammonia production by process route and scenario in major ammonia-producing |
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regions...................................................................................................................... |
|
92 |
Levelised cost of electrolytic ammonia production with VRE at nine key sites for a |
||
range of storage cost assumptions ........................................................................ |
|
101 |
Simplified levelised cost of ammonia production via electrolysis for optimal mixes of |
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wind and solar PV in China in 2050 in the Sustainable Development Scenario.... |
103 |
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Captured CO2 for storage and utilisation in the Sustainable Development Scenario |
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................................................................................................................................ |
|
106 |
CO2 emission reductions in the Sustainable Development Scenario by technology |
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maturity category.................................................................................................... |
|
117 |
Levelised cost of ammonia production pathways at varying gas, electricity and CO2 |
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prices ...................................................................................................................... |
|
119 |
Ammonia production energy requirements and CO2 emission reductions in 2050 in |
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different technology contexts ................................................................................. |
|
122 |
Capital investment in process equipment for ammonia production by scenario.... |
124 |
A framework for accelerating the sustainable transition of the ammonia industry. 142
PAGE | 6
IEA. All rights reserved.
Ammonia Technology Roadmap |
Table of contents |
||
Towards more sustainable nitrogen fertiliser production |
|
|
|
List of tables |
|
|
|
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Key nitrogen fertilisers and their characteristics ...................................................... |
|
19 |
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Energy needs to produce one tonne of ammonia for each route using BAT ........... |
33 |
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Parameters for low-cost VRE sites in 2020 and 2030 in the Sustainable |
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Development Scenario ........................................................................................... |
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100 |
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Status of main near-zero-emission technologies in ammonia production ............. |
111 |
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Key current government policies and programmes that could enable progress |
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towards sustainable ammonia production and use................................................ |
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137 |
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Global ammonia industry technology milestone requirements for meeting the |
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Sustainable Development Scenario and Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario .. |
160 |
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List of boxes |
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Box 1.1 |
Scope of this technology roadmap........................................................................... |
|
15 |
Box 1.2 |
Box 1.2 An overview of carbon capture, utilisation and storage .............................. |
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31 |
Box 1.3 |
Electrolysis-based ammonia production: Grid connection versus dedicated variable |
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renewable energy capacity....................................................................................... |
|
36 |
Box 1.4 |
What might a typical near-zero-emission ammonia plant look like in practice?....... |
41 |
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Box 1.5 |
Methane emissions from fossil fuel operations ........................................................ |
|
53 |
Box 2.1 |
Scenario definitions and the broader energy system context .................................. |
|
64 |
Box 2.2 |
The potential use of ammonia as an energy carrier................................................. |
|
71 |
Box 2.3 |
IEA demand projections for nitrogen fertilisers in context........................................ |
|
77 |
Box 2.4 |
Box 2.4 Technology modelling methodology ........................................................... |
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80 |
Box 2.5 |
Box 2.5 How are indirect CO2 emissions tackled?................................................... |
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86 |
Box 2.6 |
The TRL scale ........................................................................................................ |
|
107 |
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IEA. All rights reserved.