Sustainable nitrogen fixation: Agrochemical research in food production adapted to planetary limits

Authors

  • Lluís Pascual University of Valencia (Spain).
  • Emanuela Accardo Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain).
  • Hermenegildo Garcia Baldoví Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain). hergarba@itq.upv.es https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8628-2605

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.15.27595

Keywords:

nitrogen fixation, ammonia synthesis, Haber-Bosch process, sustainability, fertilisers

Abstract

Today's global food production depends on the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by using the Haber-Bosch process. The application of this catalytic system laid the foundations for the development of industrial agriculture and led to an unprecedented acceleration in the growth of human societies during the so-called Green Revolution. However, this production model does not appear to be able to adapt to the current challenges of energy sustainability and climate crisis response. The Haber-Bosch cycle has a major impact on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. In order to rethink this agri-food model, this article examines chemical and technological development strategies to move towards an energy and environmentally sustainable model.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Lluís Pascual, University of Valencia (Spain).

PhD in Chemistry and Associate Professor at the Department of History of Science and Documentation of the University of Valencia (Spain).

Emanuela Accardo, Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain).

PhD student at the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain).

Hermenegildo Garcia Baldoví, Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain). hergarba@itq.upv.es

Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Department of Chemistry and researcher at the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) (Spain). hergarba@itq.upv.es

References

Brown, S., & Hu, J. (2023). Review of chemical looping ammonia synthesis materials. Chemical Engineering Science, 280, 119063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2023.119063

Cordell, D., Drangert, J. O., & White, S. (2009). The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought. Global Environmental Change, 19(2), 292–305.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.10.009

MacFarlane, D. R., Cherepanov, P. V., Choi, J., Suryanto, B. H. R., Hodgetts, R. Y., Bakker, J. M., Ferrero Vallana, F. M., & Simonov, A. N. (2020). A roadmap to the ammonia economy. Joule, 4(6), 1186–1205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.04.004

Marnellos, G., & Stoukides, M. (1998). Ammonia synthesis at atmospheric pressure. Science, 282(5386), 98–100. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.282.5386.98

Nguyen, D. L. T., Tekalgne, M. A., Nguyen, T. H. C., Dinh, M. T. N., Sana, S. S., Grace, A. N., Shokouhimehr, M., Vo, D.-V. N., Cheng, C. K., Nguyen, C. C., Kim, S. Y., & Le, Q. V. (2021). Recent development of high-performance photocatalysts for N2 fixation: A review. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9(1), 104997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104997

Novoa-Cid, M., & Baldovi, H. G. (2020). Study of the photothermal catalytic mechanism of CO2 reduction to CH4 by ruthenium nanoparticles supported on titanate nanotubes. Nanomaterials, 10(11), 2212. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10112212

Peng, P., Chen, P., Schiappacasse, C., Zhou, N., Anderson, E., Chen, D., Liu, J., Cheng, Y., Hatzenbeller, R., Addy, M., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., & Ruan, R. (2018). A review on the non-thermal plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis technologies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 177, 597–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.229

Wang, L., Xia, M., Wang, H., Huang, K., Qian, C., Maravelias, C. T., & Ozin, G. A. (2018). Greening ammonia toward the solar ammonia refinery. Joule, 2(6), 1055–1074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.017

Wu, F., & Butz, W. P. (2004). The green revolution. In The future of genetically modified crops (pp. 11–38). RAND Corporation.

Zhao, K., Jia, C., Li, Z., Du, X., Wang, Y., Li, J., Yao, Z., & Yao, J. (2023). Recent advances and future perspectives in carbon capture, transportation, utilization, and storage (CCTUS) technologies: A comprehensive review. Fuel, 351, 128913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2023.128913

Published

2024-07-04

How to Cite

Pascual, L., Accardo, E., & Garcia Baldoví, H. (2024). Sustainable nitrogen fixation: Agrochemical research in food production adapted to planetary limits. Metode Science Studies Journal, (15). https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.15.27595
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    149

Issue

Section

Everything is chemistry: Challenges for a sustainable future

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.