Farm-Scale Electrochemical Ammonia: A Costed Design and Its Failure at Small Scale

A farm-scale electrochemical ammonia unit (air, water and electricity in; ammonia out) is designed at 2.0 kg N per day and priced honestly against Haber-Bosch fertiliser. The design fails its own arithmetic: 40.2 kWh per kg N against 11.15 kWh per kg N for Haber-Bosch, $45,865 capital, and a levelised cost of $16.30 per kg N even with free electricity - 8.8 times the delivered remote fertiliser price - with a negative break-even electricity price. All figures are simulated, not measured, and are reproduced by the deposited computation script.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-11-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24108470
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
preprint
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preprint

Farm-Scale Electrochemical Ammonia: A Costed Design and Its Failure at Small Scale

William Alexander Aldred
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
preprint

Farm-Scale Electrochemical Ammonia: A Costed Design and Its Failure at Small Scale

William Alexander Aldred
preprint en

Abstract

A farm-scale electrochemical ammonia unit (air, water and electricity in; ammonia out) is designed at 2.0 kg N per day and priced honestly against Haber-Bosch fertiliser. The design fails its own arithmetic: 40.2 kWh per kg N against 11.15 kWh per kg N for Haber-Bosch, $45,865 capital, and a levelised cost of $16.30 per kg N even with free electricity - 8.8 times the delivered remote fertiliser price - with a negative break-even electricity price. All figures are simulated, not measured, and are reproduced by the deposited computation script.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Farm-Scale Electrochemical Ammonia: A Costed Design and Its Failure at Small Scale — William Alexander Aldred · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS