Factsheet on Ammonia

by Rise St. James

Ammonia is a colorless gas with a strong,
unpleasant odor that can be smelled at low levels in
ambient air. Ammonia is also a raw ingredient for
synthetic fertilizers, many plastics, and
petrochemicals.
Ammonia is currently promoted as a “zero-carbon”
fuel, but this is not accurate. So-called “blue”
ammonia projects use fossil fuel natural gas or
methane as a raw ingredient. Ammonia production
uses fossil fuels to power the energy heavy process,
and an estimated 4-5% of fossil fuel gasses
produced today are used for ammonia production!
Refining one ton of ammonia from natural gas emits
almost three tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). This
CO2 is then either released into the atmosphere,
increasing global warming, or is pumped into
pipelines and injected underground through carbon
capture and storage (CCS). The only time ammonia
doesn’t emit carbon is when it is burned as fuel,
which is where the “zero-carbon” myth comes from.