Environmental and economic potential of decentralised electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis powered by solar energy

Intense efforts have been devoted to developing green and blue centralised Haber-Bosch processes (gHB and bHB, respectively), but the feasibility of a decentralised and more sustainable scheme has yet to be assessed. Here we reveal the conditions under which small-scale systems (NH₃-leaves) based on the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen (eN₂R) powered by photovoltaic energy could realise a decentralised scheme competitive in terms of environmental and economic criteria. For this purpose, we calculated energy efficiency targets worldwide, providing clear values that may guide research in the incipient eN₂R field. Even at this germinal stage, the NH₃-leaf technology would compete favourably in sunny locations for CO₂-related Earth-system processes and human health relative to the business-as-usual production scenario. Moreover, a modest 8% gain in energy efficiency would already make them outperform the gHB in terms of climate change-related impacts in the sunniest locations. If no CO₂ taxation is enforced, the lowest estimated ammonia production cost would be 3 times the industrial standard, with the potential to match it provided a substantial decrease of investment costs and very high selectivity toward ammonia in eN₂R are achieved. The disclosed sustainability potential of NH₃-leaf makes it a strong ally of gHB toward defossilised ammonia production.