AUSTRALIA: Scientists in Australia have developed a new method to produce fertiliser using pollution and renewable energy, potentially reducing emissions from one of agriculture’s most carbon-intensive industries.
Engineers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney said the technology converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen pollutants into urea, a widely used fertiliser essential for global food production.
Urea helps grow crops that feed more than half of the world’s population, but it is currently manufactured using coal or natural gas in high-temperature and high-pressure factories that release large amounts of greenhouse gases.
The researchers instead used renewable electricity to trigger a chemical reaction that bonds carbon and nitrogen together to form urea.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Dr Rahman Daiyan said the goal is to reduce emissions across the entire fertiliser production chain.
“Currently, urea production is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and generates significant emissions,” he said.
The new process also addresses another environmental problem — nitrogen pollution. Runoff from agriculture and industry releases nitrates and nitrites into rivers and ecosystems.
By combining captured carbon dioxide with these nitrogen pollutants, the system turns waste into a useful product.
Researchers developed a copper- and cobalt-based catalyst that enables the reaction to occur under milder conditions, avoiding the need for extreme heat and pressure.
The team believes the approach could support a circular economy by converting industrial emissions into valuable chemicals using solar or wind power.
The project is still at the research stage, but scientists are now working to scale up the technology using specialised equipment that can operate closer to industrial conditions.
Australia currently imports large amounts of urea fertiliser. Producing it locally using captured emissions could improve supply security while lowering environmental impact.
Dr Daiyan said the technology could use unavoidable emissions from industries such as cement production or agricultural waste rather than extracting new fossil fuels.
The researchers estimate it may take several years before the technology can be commercialised, but they hope industry partners will come on board soon.
Ultimately, the study shows how pollution can be reused instead of released into the atmosphere.
“Transforming waste carbon and nitrogen into useful products brings us closer to a cleaner and more sustainable future,” he said.
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