High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, Applied Materials and Sustainability Sciences, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08540, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0150
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Ammonia (NH 3 ) is an attractive low-carbon fuel and hydrogen carrier. However, losses and inefficiencies across the value chain could result in reactive nitrogen emissions (NH 3 , NO x , and N 2 O), negatively impacting air quality, the environment, human health, and climate. A relatively robust ammonia economy (30 EJ/y) could perturb the global nitrogen cycle by up to 65 Mt/y with a 5% nitrogen loss rate, equivalent to 50% of the current global perturbation caused by fertilizers. Moreover, the emission rate of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting molecule, determines whether ammonia combustion has a greenhouse footprint comparable to renewable energy sources or higher than coal (100 to 1,400 gCO 2 e/kWh). The success of the ammonia economy hence hinges on adopting optimal practices and technologies that minimize reactive nitrogen emissions. We discuss how this constraint should be included in the ongoing broad engineering research to reduce environmental concerns and prevent the lock-in of high-leakage practices.
Bertagni, Matteo B., et al. "Minimizing the impacts of the ammonia economy on the nitrogen cycle and climate." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 120, no. 46, Nov. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2311728120
Bertagni, Matteo B., Socolow, Robert H., Martirez, John Mark P., Carter, Emily A., Greig, Chris, Ju, Yiguang, Lieuwen, Tim, Mueller, Michael E., Sundaresan, Sankaran, Wang, Rui, Zondlo, Mark A., & Porporato, Amilcare (2023). Minimizing the impacts of the ammonia economy on the nitrogen cycle and climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(46). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2311728120
Bertagni, Matteo B., Socolow, Robert H., Martirez, John Mark P., et al., "Minimizing the impacts of the ammonia economy on the nitrogen cycle and climate," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120, no. 46 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2311728120
@article{osti_2204760,
author = {Bertagni, Matteo B. and Socolow, Robert H. and Martirez, John Mark P. and Carter, Emily A. and Greig, Chris and Ju, Yiguang and Lieuwen, Tim and Mueller, Michael E. and Sundaresan, Sankaran and Wang, Rui and others},
title = {Minimizing the impacts of the ammonia economy on the nitrogen cycle and climate},
annote = { Ammonia (NH 3 ) is an attractive low-carbon fuel and hydrogen carrier. However, losses and inefficiencies across the value chain could result in reactive nitrogen emissions (NH 3 , NO x , and N 2 O), negatively impacting air quality, the environment, human health, and climate. A relatively robust ammonia economy (30 EJ/y) could perturb the global nitrogen cycle by up to 65 Mt/y with a 5% nitrogen loss rate, equivalent to 50% of the current global perturbation caused by fertilizers. Moreover, the emission rate of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting molecule, determines whether ammonia combustion has a greenhouse footprint comparable to renewable energy sources or higher than coal (100 to 1,400 gCO 2 e/kWh). The success of the ammonia economy hence hinges on adopting optimal practices and technologies that minimize reactive nitrogen emissions. We discuss how this constraint should be included in the ongoing broad engineering research to reduce environmental concerns and prevent the lock-in of high-leakage practices. },
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2311728120},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2204760},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
issn = {ISSN 0027-8424},
number = {46},
volume = {120},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2023},
month = {11}}
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 46 Vol. 120; ISSN 0027-8424