Chemical manufacturer, BASF, and Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA) have launched a joint study to develop and build a world-scale low-carbon blue ammonia production facility in the US Gulf Coast.
To meet the rising worldwide demand for low-carbon ammonia, the firms are investigating the possibility of a facility with a total storage capacity of 1.2 to 1.4 million tonnes p.a.
Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, President of Yara Clean Ammonia, said: “Yara and BASF have successfully collaborated in the past and we are pleased to explore a new clean ammonia project together.
“In line with Yara Clean Ammonia’s strategy, we are working systematically to develop asset-backed supply to decarbonise agriculture as well as serving new clean ammonia segments such as shipping fuel.”
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Approximately 95 per cent of the CO2 emitted during the manufacturing process is intended to be caught and permanently stored in the ground.
According to YCA, this would allow it to provide clean ammonia to its customers while drastically reducing the product’s carbon impact.
The new facility would function as backward integration for BASF, meeting the company’s need for low-carbon ammonia and lowering the carbon footprint of its ammonia-based products.
Ramkumar Dhruva, President Monomers Division, BASF, stated: “This project underlines BASF’s commitment to drive the sustainable transformation of the chemical industry.
“Our existing Verbund sites in the region with integrated material flows and advanced infrastructure would be ideally suited for the integration of a new world-scale ammonia facility.”
BASF and YCA are long-standing collaboration partners and successfully operating a joint world-scale ammonia plant at BASF’s site in Freeport, Texas.
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The companies plan to complete the feasibility study on the low-carbon blue ammonia production facility by end of 2023.
Blue ammonia has the same product properties as normally manufactured ammonia.
As the CO2 produced during the manufacturing process is absorbed and not discharged into the atmosphere, blue ammonia plays an important role in the shift to less carbon-intensive goods.
BASF aims to cut absolute CO2 emissions by 25 per cent by 2030 compared to 2018, and to attain net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Since becoming a publicly traded firm in 2004, YCA has reportedly halved its emissions and plans to cut them by further 30 per cent by 2030.
