Scott Patterson and Amrith Ramkumar of The Wall Street Journal report that capturing carbon makes ammonia cleaner, boosting its popularity for fertilizer and fuel. Washington and the oil industry are investing billions. They report:
Most people think of ammonia as a household cleaner. To big oil companies, climate investors and the U.S. government, it is a hot commodity that is attracting billions of dollars for its use in fertilizer and low-carbon energy.
The latest bet is a $1.56 billion Energy Department loan commitment for an ammonia project in Indiana. The agreement comes on top of a recent $2.35 billion deal for a Gulf Coast project by an Australia-based energy company, a big investment from Abu Dhabi’s national oil company in an Exxon Mobil XOM project in Texas and a large effort in Mississippi from ammonia giant CF Industries CF.
Ammonia, which is a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen, has long been a critical ingredient in fertilizer, but it is also a big emitter of greenhouse gases because it is typically made using fossil fuels. Projects like the one in Indiana are considered low-carbon because they trap the CO2 emissions from the process and bury them underground. […]
Some analysts say certain deals could still get done if Trump wins because oil companies favor ammonia and carbon capture. An initiative involving a dozen fossil-fuel companies including Exxon and Chevron CVX is one of Wabash’s investors.“This is a bipartisan project,” Williams said.
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