Producing ammonia and fertiliser using wind power in Morris, Minnesota

Project & Concept

• Wind-powered electrolysis produces hydrogen, which feeds a Haber–Bosch plant to make ammonia/fertilizer.
• Plant is designed for intermittent operation: it throttles with wind availability and stores output as ammonia rather than storing electricity.
• Seen as a good fit for rural Minnesota, with existing wind/solar and local fertilizer demand; also framed as reducing dependence on imported or war-affected fertilizer supplies.

Economics and Cost-Effectiveness

• Repeated question: is this cost-effective versus natural-gas-based ammonia? Several commenters say “probably not yet,” given how mature and cheap gas-based Haber–Bosch is.
• Electrolyzers are identified as the main capex; intermittent operation raises levelized costs because idle hours make hydrogen more expensive.
• Back-of-envelope math suggests green nitrogen fertilizer could be viable if power is cheap (~$0.05/kWh), but capex numbers are missing.
• Some argue security of supply and timing (avoiding supply-chain shocks at planting time) can justify local, possibly more expensive production.

Renewables vs Fossil Fuels

• One side: fossil fuels remain more “cost effective,” especially in non–centrally planned markets.
• Counterarguments:
  • Fossil fuels are heavily subsidized directly and indirectly (military spending, unpriced CO₂, health and wildfire costs).
  • Solar and wind are claimed to be cheaper per unit energy in many contexts; opposing comments dispute this, especially in high-latitude regions.
• Strong disagreement about solar lifecycle emissions:
  • One claim: in places like Minnesota/UK, PV allegedly never repays its embodied energy and may emit more CO₂ than gas.
  • Others call this factually wrong, citing common estimates of 1–3 year energy payback and long panel lifetimes.

Technical Process & Scalability

• Core route: water electrolysis → hydrogen + air-derived nitrogen → Haber–Bosch ammonia. Reaction itself is energy-light compared to hydrogen production.
• Historical note: electrolytic hydrogen for ammonia was common near early hydro plants; current shift is to wind/solar.
• Small-scale replication is technically possible but likely uneconomic; Haber–Bosch typically uses ~200 bar, ~500°C and benefits from large scale.
• Alternative tech mentioned: plasma electrolytic cells for on-farm nitrate production (early-stage).

Hydrogen & Storage

• Ammonia production is essentially a proxy for hydrogen production and use.
• Hydrogen storage is difficult and costly; bulk storage in salt caverns is cited as a promising “cheat” where geology allows.
• Some suggest storing hydrogen to run the plant continuously; others point out storage infrastructure complexity and cost.

Ammonia as Energy Storage / Fossil Substitute

• Some see green ammonia as dual-purpose: fertilizer plus long-duration energy storage / fuel, especially where batteries or pumped hydro are limited.
• One commenter expresses hope that abundant cheap renewables + green ammonia/hydrogen can decouple many sectors from fossil fuels.

Environmental & Agricultural Impacts

• Concerns:
  • Synthetic nitrogen runoff drives algal blooms and “dead zones” (e.g., in the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi).
  • Wind turbines criticized as intermittent, visually intrusive, and harmful to wildlife; others say impacts are overstated and far smaller than fossil fuels.
• Proposed alternative: focus on capturing nutrient runoff instead of making more fertilizer; skeptics question practicality.
• Debate over organic vs synthetic fertilizer:
  • One camp: Haber–Bosch nitrogen is essential to feeding billions; “no fertilizer” is characterized as a luxury belief.
  • Another stresses long-term soil erosion and environmental limits; being “better than fossil-derived fertilizer” doesn’t make synthetic nitrogen unproblematic.

Policy, Markets, and Geography

• Discussion on “central planning”:
  • View that every modern economy is effectively centrally shaped via regulation, taxes, and subsidies, so “most cost-effective” is policy-dependent.
• Texas highlighted as top state for wind/solar/storage despite strong fossil-fuel politics:
  • Attributed to a mix of early transmission build-out for farmers, CREZ zones, and permissive build environment.
  • Others stress this was more accidental and is now partly resisted by state policy.
• Spain and China cited as examples of much larger green ammonia/hydrogen projects; Minnesota plant seen as modest but symbolically important.