Ammonia
Hydrogen plus air nitrogen, ammonia is the root of almost all fertiliser and nitrogen chemistry, and the source of about 420 Mt of direct CO2 a year (IEA, 2022).
Commodity chemicals · Nitrogen & phosphate chemicals · No. 18
- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- 190.5 Mt ammonia (2024); about 160 Mt N in 2025e
- 2.8 t CO₂e per t
- HS 281410
Ammonia is made from air and natural gas, and gas is up to 85% of its cost, so gas shocks reach farms.
Chart: Illustration: Ammonia
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Hydrogen from gas or coal is combined with nitrogen from air over an iron catalyst at 150-250 bar: the Haber-Bosch process, which made 190.5 Mt in 2024.
Three things to know
- A $10/MMBtu move in gas shifts ammonia's cost by about $330 a tonne, because each tonne needs about 33 MMBtu.
- China makes 30.6% of world ammonia, mostly from coal, while India and Russia each make about 9.4%.
- India's 2025 auction bought 724 kt a year of green ammonia at roughly $570-740 a tonne.
The journey
- 1 Gas or coalAbout 33 MMBtu gas per tonne
- 2 HydrogenReforming or gasification, 0.178 t per tonne
- 3 NitrogenTaken straight from the air
- 4 Haber-BoschIron catalyst, 150-250 bar, 400-500 C
- 5 ConversionAbout 60% becomes urea on site
- 6 ShippingRefrigerated at -33 C in gas carriers