MIT Researchers Develop Emissions-Free Method for Underground Ammonia Production

The innovative process uses Earth's natural heat, pressure, and minerals to produce ammonia without greenhouse gas emissions, potentially transforming the chemical industry.

• MIT engineers propose a novel method to produce ammonia underground, leveraging Earth's natural heat and pressure to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
• The process involves injecting water, nitrogen, and metal catalysts into iron-rich subsurface rocks to generate hydrogen, which reacts with nitrogen to form ammonia.
• The technique bypasses the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, which currently accounts for over 1% of global CO2 emissions due to its reliance on fossil fuels.
• Researchers have demonstrated the process in the lab and aim to conduct field tests within the next one to two years to validate scalability and feasibility.
• A new company, Addis Energy, has been launched to commercialize this technology, with potential applications in agriculture, clean energy, and industrial processes.

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