Sustainability is one of the values that I put forward in my brand new company. There is a consensus in Europe that the food system – from farm to fork – should become more sustainable. However, sustainability is a very broad concept and interpreted in many ways depending on whom you ask to define it. In the public debate, a sustainable food system is not seldom narrowed to the discussion on environmental-friendly farming, which in turn implies that society expects farmers to undertake action. Although for sure the practices on the farm do matter for sustainability, more sustainable food production can only be realized with the support of all actors in the food chain.
Fertilisers and sustainable food production
One such actor is the fertilizer industry. Fertilizers, in general, don’t have a very good reputation and that is probably an understatement. A screening of the farm to fork strategy shows a clear focus on decreasing fertilizers and more in particular, drastically decrease the use of synthetic fertilizers. The reduction of fertilizer in farming is not just motivated by environmental concerns; economic arguments also drive the sector to reduce its inputs. For example, the fertilizer price is highly volatile and it is expected that this volatility will remain in the (near) future. Both geopolitical tensions and the fact that Europe depends on imports for the key fertilizer commodities (N, P and K) directly impact the fertilizer industry in Europe.
OCI Global is one of the companies that produce and distribute nitrogen. OCI Global invited me for a presentation on challenges and opportunities to meet global food security, and for a reflection on the impact for farming in Europe. Global food security, that basically means that all people at all times have sufficient and nutritious food. It relates not only to the Sustainable Development Goal on zero hunger (SDG2), but also implies a successful fight against overweight and obesity. And indeed, fertilizers do play a role in achieving SDG2.
Haber and Bosch
Plants need nutrients to grow, and the development of synthetic fertilizer has allowed yields to increase. To quote Hannah Ritchie, scientists at Our World in Data: “In fact, it’s estimated that nitrogen fertilizer now supports approximately half of the global population. In other words, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch — the pioneers of this technological breakthrough — are estimated to have enabled the lives of several billion people, who otherwise would have died prematurely, or never been born at all”.
So, what is the fertilizer industry doing to meet the global challenges on food security and respond to Europe’s demand to make the food system more sustainable? During the OCI event, emphasis was placed on how the production process of fertilizers impact its carbon footprint. There is for example an enormous potential to improve the production process of ammonia, leading to a wide spectrum of alternatives.
Thereby, brown ammonia refers to the conventional Haber-Bosch process which has been in place for more than a century. Blue ammonia follows the same manufacturing, with the exception of the generated CO2 being stored underground. Green ammonia is also based on the Haber-Bosch process, though the hydrogen used in the reaction is generated by electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources. So ‘green’ hydrogen is used to create ‘green’ ammonia. The color pallet is much richer, but this already gives a flavor of the various technologies used to make the fertilizer production more sustainable.
One goal – different perspectives
The focus on the reduction of GHG emissions in the production process is different from the focus of debates in the agricultural sector where emphasis is mainly put on the reduction of the use of fertilizers, and the regulation and administration that come with Europe’s ambition to decrease the use of fertilizers.
In practice, both the reduction of fertilizer use and technology development to make the manufacturing of fertilizers will go hand in hand. However, there is an urgency to align policy ambitions, economic reality and technological developments. To achieve this, all actors concerned should bundle forces and insights. Fingers crossed that the members of the European Board on Agriculture and Food (EBAF) put aside ideologies and enter the dialogue with an open mind.