CF Industries and POET team on low-carbon ammonia fertilizer

CF Industries Holdings announced a collaboration to pilot the use of low-carbon ammonia fertilizer to reduce the carbon intensity of corn production and ethanol. Demand for ethanol with a lower carbon intensity is expected to increase significantly to meet low-carbon fuel standards. Ammonia is commonly used as a direct application fertilizer for U.S. corn production, but the conventional ammonia production process is emissions intensive. As a result, ammonia production is a significant contributor to the lifecycle carbon intensity of corn production and thus ethanol production. Producing ethanol with corn grown using low-carbon ammonia can reduce the carbon intensity of ethanol up to 10 percent. The companies are targeting the fall of 2024 for the first applications of low-carbon ammonia with subsequent applications in spring of 2025, to produce a first crop to be harvested in the fall of 2025. “We are pleased to collaborate with POET on this important step forward in developing a low-carbon ethanol value chain that links low-carbon fertilizers to farmers to ethanol production,” said Bert Frost, executive vice president, sales, supply chain and market development, CF Industries. “Fertilizers manufactured with a lower carbon intensity provide a quantifiable and certifiable method of decarbonizing bioethanol inputs. We look forward to demonstrating these benefits not just for ethanol production but for corn growers as well.”