Ammonia is the second most commonly produced industrial chemical worldwide, reaching an estimated global production of 176 megatonnes/year (2022). Approximately 80% of ammonia is used for fertiliser production, playing a critical role in increasing agricultural output and supporting the growing global population. Ammonia based fertilisers support approximately half of the global population's food. Globally, 95% of ammonia is produced via the 110-year-old Haber-Bosch process, which reacts nitrogen and hydrogen over fused-iron catalysts under high-temperature (˃400 degC), high-pressure (˃200 bar) conditions. However, the Haber-Bosch process is highly resource inefficient and energy intensive, consuming approximately 2% of the global energy budget and contributing around 1.8% of direct global carbon dioxide emissions (c.500 megatonnes/year). Production of hydrogen gas is responsible for 90% of the emissions associated with ammonia production, with 99% of hydrogen currently produced from fossil fuels (grey hydrogen). With demand for ammonia projected to rise nearly 40% by 2050, largely driven by fertiliser requirements, business-as-usual ammonia production is incompatible with global net-zero targets. Moreover, the requirement for large-scale, capital-intensive equipment (resulting from high-temperature, high-pressure conditions) and "always-on" operation (resulting from 30-40 hour induction time required for catalyst activation) prohibits flexible ammonia production capacity and/or full adaptivity as would be required if generating green hydrogen using renewables and electrolyser technology. In addition, China and Russia are major global ammonia producers, responsible for 29% and 10% of production, respectively. Ammonia export and import bans triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war have fueled supply shortages and historically elevated ammonia prices, reaching £1,319/tonne, exacerbated by rising natural gas prices, creating serious global supply chain vulnerabilities. The UK and Australia both rely heavily on imports to meet their national fertiliser demands. At a farm level, fertiliser is responsible for up to 12% of arable crop farm input costs and farmers are highly vulnerable to fertiliser price and supply volatility. Nitrogen fertiliser production and application also accounts for 60-70% of a farm's total greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, arable crop farmers create a significant amount of waste biomass. This biomass is normally burned but it can provide renewable raw material for the bioeconomy. Nium and HydGene will combine their proprietary and patent-pending catalytic technologies to develop a circular, decentralised, on-farm process for production of low-carbon renewable hydrogen from waste straw and conversion into green ammonia fertiliser, creating an innovative local solution to a global and regional challenge, aligned with UK and Australia's hydrogen and net-zero strategies.

Ammonia is the second most commonly produced industrial chemical worldwide, reaching an estimated global production of 176 megatonnes/year (2022). Approximately 80% of ammonia is used for fertiliser production, playing a critical role in increasing agricultural output and supporting the growing global population. Indeed, it is estimated that ammonia in fertiliser now supports approximately half of the global population. Ammonia synthesis currently relies on the 110-year old Haber-Bosch process, which reacts nitrogen and hydrogen over fused-iron catalysts under high-temperature (˃400 degC), high-pressure (˃200 bar) conditions. This process faces two key resource efficiency issues: (i) Materials: Operating reactors under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions requires significant materials investment and high CAPEX costs. Notably, a large-scale 850,000 tonne/year ammonia plant requires an estimated 225 tonnes of stainless steel for the synthesis reactors and costs an estimated £0.8BN in CAPEX. (ii) Minerals: The Haber-Bosch process relies on a fused-iron catalyst, which is typically prepared by melting natural magnetite from Sweden with various promoters, cooling the melt, and mechanically granulating the melt into small particles, which are then screened to obtain the target particle size. A large-scale 850,000 tonne/year ammonia plant requires an estimated 74,520 kg of fused-iron catalyst, with a lifetime of approximately 10 years. Since even pre-reduced, stabilised fused-iron catalysts require 30-40 hours for activation, the Haber-Bosch process is operated under "always-on" conditions, limiting production flexibility and precluding the use of intermittent renewable energy as a power source. Underpinning the resource efficiency challenges associated with the Haber-Bosch process are the high energy requirements and carbon emissions. The Haber-Bosch process consumes approximately 2% of the global energy budget (8.6 EJ/year) and contributes around 1.8% of global carbon dioxide emissions (500 megatonnes/year). With demand for ammonia projected to rise nearly 40% by 2050, largely driven by fertiliser requirements, business-as-usual ammonia production is incompatible with global net-zero targets. Innovate UK funding through Resource Efficiency for Materials and Manufacturing call brings together a world-class consortium spanning industry and academia to improve resource efficiency and reduce carbon emissions through developing a low-temperature, low-pressure ammonia synthesis process.