Publication:
Decarbonizing Ammonia and Nitrogen Fertilizers with Clean Hydrogen

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (556.29 KB)
424 downloads
English Text (50.44 KB)
16 downloads
Date
2025-03-12
ISSN
Published
2025-03-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Synthetic fertilizers are essential to sustaining the world’s population, but their production is responsible for 1.8–2.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean hydrogen holds growing potential (amid falling costs) to decarbonize fertilizer production. Hydrogen produces synthetic ammonia, a building block of most fertilizers. With the fertilizer market as a reliable off-taker, this shift could support the overall expansion of clean hydrogen, even as it boosts global food security. However, this transition may require adjustments, including changes in fertilizer types and modifications to existing subsidy schemes.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2025. Decarbonizing Ammonia and Nitrogen Fertilizers with Clean Hydrogen. Live Wire; 2025/140. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42936 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Report Series
Live Wire
Other publications in this report series
  • Publication
    Using Biomass or Green Ammonia to Replace Coal in Existing Thermal Power Plants
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-06) Tavoulareas, Stratos
    Finding fuel sources to replace coal in power plants is crucial in the march toward decarbonization. Biomass and ammonia are two options offering significant potential. Both can be used with coal or alone in newly constructed facilities or in modified power plants. Relatively new power plants are good candidates for modification. While work is underway demonstrating the feasibility of each material, there are logistical challenges to address, particularly in the case of ammonia.
  • Publication
    Mobilizing Commercial Financing to Scale Up Energy Efficiency in the Public Sector
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-22) Limaye, Dilip; Singh, Jas; Lee, Selena Jihyun
    Scaling up energy efficiency is critical to the energy transition—and the public sector is a good place to start. Programs in public buildings, in particular, can introduce new models and thus help shape markets. Given the limits of public financing against huge investment needs, countries must unlock commercial financing. The first steps are to adopt international best practices and select financing mechanisms suited to local policy and regulatory frameworks, public agency characteristics, implementation barriers, and the maturity of financial markets.
  • Publication
    Mini Grids for Underserved Main Grid Customers
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-21) Tenenbaum, Bernard; Greacen, Chris; Shrestha, Ashish
    Can mini grids help to solve the problem of poorly served main grid connected communities A mini grid is an electricity generation and distribution network that supplies electricity to a localized group of customers. Mini grids can be isolated from or connected to the main grid. To date, most mini grids in Sub-Saharan Africa have been built in electrically isolated rural villages not connected to the main grid. Based on broad experience working with mini grid programs in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries and five detailed case studies, the authors offer observations and recommendations about mini grids in general and a new type known as “undergrid mini grids” being used in Nigeria and India to serve poorly served communities.
  • Publication
    Net Zero Energy by 2060
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-07) Doczi, Szilvia
    In the long term, both energy security and decarbonization in the region will depend on substantial increases in national climate ambitions. Achieving those increases will depend, in turn, on equally substantial increases in investment in low-carbon technologies, accompanied by timely policies and regulatory measures. The World Bank has developed a whole-energy-system model, data driven, technology rich, and bottom-up, to project optimal least-cost pathways for Europe and Central Asia to achieve a net zero energy target by 2060. This Live Wire is based on a report published in March 2024 (World Bank and ESMAP 2024).
  • Publication
    Adapting Spatial Frameworks to Guide Energy Access Interventions in Urbanizing Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-07) Kersey, Jessica; Koo, Bryan Bonsuk
    The extension of electricity into rural areas has been the main focus of efforts to achieve universal access to reliable, affordable, and modern energy by 2030. On the African continent and elsewhere, however, rapid urbanization has produced new patterns of human settlement that blur the distinction between rural and urban. As a case study of Kenya demonstrates, access metrics aggregated at the rural or urban level do not equip governments and their partners to properly identify or target sites for electrification. Spatialized frameworks and data that define space along a rural–urban continuum or as urban catchment areas can improve policy makers’ understanding of the specific barriers to access that communities face.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Ukraine : Soil Fertility to Strengthen Climate Resilience
    (World Bank, Washington, DC and FAO, Rome, 2014) Fileccia, Turi; Guadagni, Maurizio; Hovhera, Vasyl; Bernoux, Martial
    Ukraine is renowned as the breadbasket of Europe thanks to its black soils ( Chernozem black because of the high organic matter content) which offer exceptional agronomic conditions. One-third of the worldwide stock of the fertile black soils, which cover more than half of Ukraine s arable land, a large variety of climatic zones, and favourable temperature and moisture regimes, offers attractive conditions for the production of a large range of crops including cereals and oilseeds. Ukraine s proximity to large and growing neighbouring markets the Russian Federation and the European Union and access to deep sea ports at the Black Sea, provide direct access to world markets, especially large grain importers in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Publication
    Decarbonizing Development
    (Washington, DC, 2015-05-11) World Bank
    Stabilizing climate change entails bringing net emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to zero. CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. As long as one emit more than captured or offset through carbon sinks (such as forests), concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere will keep rising, and the climate will keep warming. Countries can follow three principles in their efforts to create a zero-carbon future: (a) planning ahead for a future with zero emissions, (b) getting carbon prices and policies right, and (c) smoothing the transition and protecting the poor. In this context, the report presents getting prices right - good economic and fiscal policy; and de-carbonization requires a broader package of climate policies.
  • Publication
    Can Global De-Carbonization Inhibit Developing Country Industrialization?
    (2009-11-01) Mattoo, Aaditya; Subramanian, Arvind; van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique; He, Jianwu
    Most economic analyses of climate change have focused on the aggregate impact on countries of mitigation actions. The authors depart first in disaggregating the impact by sector, focusing particularly on manufacturing output and exports because of the potential growth consequences. Second, they decompose the impact of an agreement on emissions reductions into three components: the change in the price of carbon due to each country s emission cuts per se; the further change in this price due to emissions tradability; and the changes due to any international transfers (private and public). Manufacturing output and exports in low carbon intensity countries such as Brazil are not adversely affected. In contrast, in high carbon intensity countries, such as China and India, even a modest agreement depresses manufacturing output by 6-7 percent and manufacturing exports by 9-11 percent. The increase in the carbon price induced by emissions tradability hurts manufacturing output most while the Dutch disease effects of transfers hurt exports most. If the growth costs of these structural changes are judged to be substantial, the current policy consensus, which favors emissions tradability (on efficiency grounds) supplemented with financial transfers (on equity grounds), needs re-consideration.
  • Publication
    Ukraine : Investment Plan for the Clean Technology Fund
    (Washington, DC, 2010-01) World Bank
    This report describes the Ukraine Investment Plan for the Clean Technology Fund. Ukraine is a lower middle income country, with GDP per capita of US$1,940 in 2006. After a decade of steep economic decline, economic growth rebounded in 2000 and GDP grew by about 7.5 percent per year on average until 2007. To recover its economic growth and improve competitiveness, Ukraine will need to address a combination of challenges. Improving the energy efficiency of the economy and thereby reducing its vulnerability to further import price shocks, as well as modernizing the energy sector to make it more efficient, are among those challenges. The Energy Strategy of Ukraine for the Period until 2030, adopted in 2006, provides a platform for addressing these issues over the three distinct phases of development envisaged for the country. Energy and industry are the priority sectors for intervention as they account for 69 percent and 22 percent of country s GHG emissions, respectively The interventions with the highest potential for reducing GHG emissions in Ukraine are: (1) energy efficiency; (2) increased use of nuclear power; (3) implementation of high efficiency combustion technologies and carbon capture and storage (CCS) for new coal-fired plants; and (4) renewable energy.
  • Publication
    Decarbonizing Development
    (Washington, DC, 2015-05-11) World Bank
    Stabilizing climate change entails bringing net emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to zero. CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. As long as we emit more than we capture or offset through carbon sinks (such as forests), concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere will keep rising, and the climate will keep warming. Countries can follow three principles in their efforts to create a zero-carbon future: (a) planning ahead for a future with zero emissions, (b) getting carbon prices and policies right, and (c) smoothing the transition and protecting the poor.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23) Belacin, Matias; Iacovone, Leonardo; Izvorski, Ivailo; Kasyanenko, Sergiy
    Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03) World Bank
    Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.
  • Publication
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.