Toward Net-Zero Emission Fertilizers Industry: Greenhouse Gas Emission Analyses and Decarbonization Solutions

The production of fertilizers has been evolving steadily in the last 300 years. It involves a high number of commodities and reagents that share a large portion of the costs and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide (CO2). Phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium fertilizers components represent more than 200 million tonnes of production annually. Given that most of the fertilizer production process is dependent on fossil fuels as fuel and feedstock, the amount of CO2 generated is at least 3 tonnes CO2 per tonne of fertilizer. The introduction, in the future, of less intensive carbon technological components and lower energy-consuming separation and catalytic technologies in the fertilizers industry has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions drastically. In this review, we thoroughly analyze the GHG emissions of the fertilizers industry over time and explore pathways to achieve viable and sustainable decarbonization solutions. In the review, we also aim to explore, whenever information is available, the factors (sources) and the ranges of GHG emissions in the different value chains of fertilizer plants. As a result, an overview of the literature on GHG emissions from synthetic fertilizers (N, P, K) industries will be given. More emphasis is on emissions that stem from the extraction of raw materials to final fertilizer products (energy source, efficiency, and fertilizer type) and transportation of intermediates within different sites of the plants (vehicle type, fuel type, and efficiency). A perspective analysis on possible recommendations for future net-zero carbon emissions and carbon capture technologies is also made.