Life cycle assessment of urea production: Environmental impact comparison of two fertilizer technologies in Northern...

The study aims to assess the environmental impacts (EIs) of two products from two different fertilizer industries (FIs) in Northern India, employing different technologies for urea fertilizer production. A gate-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is utilized to scrutinize the environmental consequences associated with the urea production processes. The analysis leverages the GaBi 4.0 software, integrating Eco Invent and EF 3.0 databases to examine the EIs thoroughly. Industry case-1 implements the Snamprogetti method alongside Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology, while industry case-2 relies on the Haber-Bosch method. The benchmark for the study is the production of 1 ton of urea fertilizer, designated as the Functional Unit (FU). The outcomes reveal that urea fertilizer production exerts varying degrees of impact across different EI categories, with the most significant effects observed in freshwater ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, human toxicity, acidification, and climate change categories. The carbon footprints of industries case-1 and case-2 were found to be 1.543 E+03 kg CO2 equivalent and 1.882 E+03 kg CO2 equivalent per ton of urea produced, respectively. The LCA results indicate that the EIs of industry case-1, employing Snamprogetti processes and CCU, are approximately 10 % lower than those of industry case-2. The study also furnishes policy and managerial recommendations for FI decision-makers, urging the adoption of measures to mitigate the EI of urea fertilizer production. Additionally, it discusses strategies for adopting more sustainable and eco-friendly practices to diminish the EIs.