CF Industries announces commitment to clean energy economy

Tony Will, President and Chief Executive Officer of CF Industries Holdings, Inc., said: “The world needs clean energy and hydrogen is a key to meeting this need. Low-carbon ammonia is the critical enabler for storage and transport of hydrogen and thus has a major role to play.”

“Today’s commitment to decarbonise the world’s largest ammonia production network positions CF Industries at the forefront of clean hydrogen supply.”

Green hydrogen and ammonia are expected to be critical contributors to the world achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Industry experts predict that hydrogen will meet approximately 20% of the world’s energy needs by 2050, up from less than 1% today. Ammonia, which is composed of three-parts hydrogen and one-part nitrogen, is a highly efficient transport and storage mechanism for hydrogen as well as a fuel in its own right.

CF Industries will focus on green ammonia production, which refers to ammonia produced through a carbon-free process, and low-carbon ammonia, which relates to ammonia produced by conventional processes but with CO₂ removed through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and other certified carbon abatement projects.

“Our existing scale and commitment to produce green and low-carbon ammonia establishes CF Industries as the clear leader in providing clean fuels for a sustainable world, while also providing a growth platform to drive long-term shareholder value,” added Will.

CF Industries’ Board of Directors approved an initial green ammonia project at the company’s flagship Donaldsonville Nitrogen complex to produce approximately 20 000 tpy of green ammonia. The company will install a state-of-the-art electrolysis system at Donaldsonville to generate carbon-free hydrogen from water that will then be supplied to an existing plant to produce green ammonia. The cost of the initial project is expected to fit within the company’s annual capital expenditure budget, which has ranged from US$400 – US$450 million/yr.

Additionally, the company is developing CCS and other carbon abatement projects across its production facilities. The implementation of these projects will enable CF to produce low-carbon ammonia. The company estimates that over time it could produce approximately 3.5 million tpy of low-carbon ammonia, which represents about one-third of its annual ammonia production capacity, without affecting its current product mix.

In order to execute these initiatives, CF is collaborating with leading technology companies, and has signed Memorandums of Understanding with ThyssenKrupp and Haldor Topsoe. The company is also in discussions with global utilities and maritime transportation providers that have announced their intention to use low-carbon ammonia directly as a fuel.

The CF Board of Directors has established the Environmental Sustainability and Community Committee to oversee all aspects of the progress toward net-zero carbon emissions and the company’s active involvement in the communities in which it operates.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/special-reports/30102020/cf-industries-announces-commitment-to-clean-energy-economy/