Advanced BioFuels USA

by Corey Rosenbusch (The Fertilizer Institute (TFI)/Agri-Pulse) … In fact, over half of all food grown around the world today, for both people and animals, is made possible only through the responsible use of fertilizer. As the world population continues to grow, the need for sustainability produced fertilizer will only increase.

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As the industry continues to capture more process GHG emissions it is imperative that the United States have robust carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) infrastructure, including sequestration facilities and transportation.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has concluded that “reaching net zero will be virtually impossible” without the use of CCS, while the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that the cost of reaching climate goals will be significantly higher without utilizing CCS.

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As more facilities harness carbon capture technologies and more storage facilities come online, the need for additional infrastructure, including CO₂ pipelines, has become a focal point. There are currently over 5,000 miles of CO₂ pipelines in the U.S., but a substantial buildout is needed as geological formations suitable for carbon sequestration are limited and can be located hundreds of miles from production facilities, especially fertilizer plants as they are often located in remote areas.

CO₂ pipelines are regulated by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) and have a strong safety record over the past 50 years. In fact, since 1985 CO₂ pipelines have accounted for 1% of hazardous liquid pipeline incidents. Of specific interest to the fertilizer industry are three pipeline projects currently in development in Iowa, an area dotted with fertilizer and ammonia plants that could immediately benefit from CO₂ infrastructure.

The production of ammonia, the basic building block for all nitrogen-based fertilizers, is a highly energy intensive process. In the U.S., natural gas is used as both feedstock and fuel source in the production of ammonia. In other parts of the world, notably China, ammonia is produced through coal gasification, which results in much higher GHG emissions. According to the Energy Information Agency (EIA), “U.S. ammonia production, the third largest in the world behind China and Russia, is dominated by less carbon intensive natural gas-fed ammonia plants, which account for 92% of all U.S. ammonia production.” While CCS opponents decry carbon capture as a way for industry to continue burning fossil fuels, CCS is the best decarbonization opportunity to significantly reduce emissions for industries that have no viable economic alternatives to fossil fuels and is an essential piece to reaching both U.S. and global emissions reduction targets.  READ MORE