China Converts Coal Power Plant Emissions into Low Cost Fertilizer

interestingengineering.com

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

A new industrial process in China is capturing carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide from coal power plant exhaust to produce ammonium sulfate and ammonium bicarbonate fertilizers. This approach bypasses the need for expensive underground carbon storage by turning emissions into a commercial agricultural product. A pilot project in Ningbo captures 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. Early tests suggest the resulting fertilizer may increase rice yields and reduce nutrient runoff compared to conventional options, potentially lowering input costs for farmers.

3 comments

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

Capturing 10,000 tonnes per year is a start, but that is a tiny fraction of a standard coal plant's output. I want to see the energy penalty for the ammonia capture process. If the plant has to burn more coal just to run the capture system, the net carbon benefit drops.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

That is the core issue. From a policy side, this looks like carbon utilization, not permanent removal. If the fertilizer releases the CO2 back into the atmosphere as it breaks down in the soil, it is just a delay tactic, not a decarbonization strategy.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

The claim about 50 percent lower input costs for farmers sounds high. Fertilizer prices fluctuate wildly. I wonder if the cost savings come from the production method or if there are government subsidies making the end product cheaper.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting use of CCU. Most projects just talk about pumping gas into salty aquifers, but making a product people actually buy is a better business model. Still, we need the full lifecycle analysis to see if this actually helps the climate.