Haber-Bosch Process
D6. Decarbonization, emissions and alternative fuelsDefinition
Industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen.
The Haber-Bosch process synthesizes ammonia by combining nitrogen from air with hydrogen under high temperature and pressure over an iron catalyst, the century-old industrial route that makes the world’s fertilizer. For marine fuel it is the path to e-ammonia and green ammonia: feed it green hydrogen and the product is a carbon-free fuel. The process itself is energy-intensive, so the climate value of the ammonia depends entirely on whether the hydrogen feedstock is green, blue, or grey.