Sumitomo Chemical, Yara to explore clean ammonia collaboration

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Sumitomo Chemical and Norwegian fertilizer major Yara have agreed to explore a potential tie-up to advance the use of clean ammonia, the Japanese producer said on Friday.

Under this agreement reached with Yara, Sumitomo Chemical will begin studying the possibility of using Yara’s clean ammonia as a raw material for petrochemical products, and a source for clean energy at the company’s production sites as part of its fuel conversion efforts, Sumitomo Chemical said in a statement.

Clean ammonia is a general term referring to green and blue ammonia.

Green ammonia is ammonia made from hydrogen that is generated by using renewable energy, such as electricity from solar power and hydraulic power, while blue ammonia is fossil resource-derived ammonia produced by the process that essentially does not emit CO2 by collecting and recycling CO2 generated from the process.

Sumitomo Chemical will also explore potential collaborative projects with Yara to promote the use of clean ammonia in Japan, including stocking Yara’s clean ammonia at storage facilities in Ehime.

Globally, around 200m tonnes of ammonia were produced in 2019, around 80% of which was used in fertilizers and the remaining 20% primarily as a raw material for petrochemical products, such as acrylonitrile (ACN) and caprolactam, raw materials for synthetic fibre.

“In recent years, as global efforts toward achieving carbon neutrality gain momentum, work is under way to develop technologies for utilising ammonia, which does not emit CO2 when combusted, as an energy source by adding ammonia to fuels for coal-fired power plants or completely replacing those fuels with ammonia,” Sumitomo Chemical said.