The European fertilizer industry is committed to furthering innovation towards more environmentally friendly practices, but solid regulatory frameworks and guidance from lawmakers are required, said major Spanish producer Fertiberia.
Group Fertiberia Spain chief operating officer David Herrero Fuentes, who is also a board member of industry group Fertilizers Europe, was speaking on a conference call focused on ammonia, hydrogen and decarbonisation.
Among other speakers was Jutta Paulus MEP, from Germany's Alliance 90/The Greens party and the European Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
She challenged fertilizer producers and others to be "part of the (environmental) solution".
Herrero Fuentes began by saying that his industry strives "every day to develop and provide ... smarter and greener" products in a sustainable manner. The fertilizer industry is committed to playing a key role in the development of carbon-free ammonia and low-carbon fertilizer production, he said.
But the segment "has already adopted all the energy-efficiency measures that are technically available and economically feasible", he said.
‘Fertilizer producers need clarity and help from lawmakers'
Most commonly in the industry, natural gas is converted into hydrogen and further converted into ammonia, which becomes the building block for much fertilizer production. This method of creating ammonia releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
In order to move further in decarbonisation practices, the choice is to either avoid emissions by changing the feedstock — the green ammonia concept — or apply the so-called blue ammonia practice by capturing emissions, said Herrero Fuentes.
There is already an "extensive ongoing effort" around such developments, he said, pointing to Fertiberia launching — with Spanish multinational electric utility company Iberdrola — a plant for the production of green hydrogen for industrial use. The facility, in Puertollano in Ciudad Real province, is due to become operational in 2021.
But Herrero Fuentes indicated that the project was considered mainly demonstrative, saying that to move from demonstration to commercial-level practices of this kind, producers required decisive, firm, and continued support from authorities and policymakers.
"Today, the manufacture of green or blue ammonia is not economically feasible, when compared with conventional ammonia," he said.
"In order to change that and speed up early adoption by our industry, we need a set of minimum requirements and policies" that would allow the construction of a "solid business case".
Herrero Fuentes listed five necessities to allow development in the industry: include the role of ammonia in the strategy, roadmaps and policies for European energy transition; ensure, long-term, a level playing field between European producers and importers; provide enough funds to finance the transition from conventional to carbon-free production; make renewable energy and hydrogen abundant and affordable; and develop standards and certificates for the production, storage, transportation and use of carbon-free ammonia.
If these conditions are met, Herrero Fuentes said the industry would be confident that "low-carbon ammonia and fertilizer production will become a reality in Europe sooner than expected, creating a traction for other industries to follow".
Fertiberia, which supplies a wide range of nitrogen, phosphate, complex and added-value fertilizers, was acquired earlier this year by investment firm Triton.
