Green ammonia presents an opportunity to advance energy and food system sustainability in IndiaDownload PDF Download PDF CommentOpen accessPublished: 15 January 2026Eric A. Davidson ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8525-86971,2 &Nandula Raghuram ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9486-754X3,4 Communications Sustainability volume 1, Article number: 14 (2026) Cite this articleSubjectsEnvironmental biotechnologyEnvironmental impactClean technology is needed to meet India’s demand for food and fuel without compromising environmental and human health. Green ammonia production could help to boost low-carbon fuel and nitrogen fertilizer production for domestic use and export, and to innovate energy and food systems.India is the second-largest consumer of nitrogen fertilizers and the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally1. The country’s fertilizer industry depends heavily on natural gas imports2, which is financially burdensome and presents food security risks. Urea fertilizers are heavily subsidized by the government2, which is costly and disincentivizes farmers’ efficient use of fertilizers that would minimize environmental impacts. Green ammonia technology, which uses electricity generated from solar, wind, or hydropower to produce hydrogen gas and synthesize ammonia3, would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from nitrogen fertilizer synthesis4. It can be used in fertilizers, as an alternative fuel to decarbonize the marine shipping sector, and as a carrier of green hydrogen for use in the industrial and transportation sectors5.Here, we argue that green ammonia technology presents an opportunity for India to advance sustainability and innovation in industrial and food systems by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, demand for subsidized urea, and imported natural gas. However, the development of green ammonia in India also faces technological, economic, and social challenges.Ambitious plansAcross India, private companies are making commitments to invest billions of dollars in green ammonia technology (Supplementary Table 1). Most investments are directed to producing green ammonia as a fuel. Still, there is also growing interest in its potential as a fertilizer and for direct incorporation into human food and livestock feed.Green ammonia projects for marine shipping fuel and export are eligible for financial incentives under the green hydrogen mission of the Solar Energy Corporation of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the advanced technology industrial policies of the states of Odisha, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The first facility in the world to produce more than 1000 metric tonnes per year of green ammonia was commissioned at Bikaner, Rajasthan, in 2021, and several Indian companies are at various stages of approval to build plants with production capacities ranging from 0.4 to 2.9 million metric tonnes per year (Supplementary Table 1). In addition, industry initiatives propose to lower the carbon intensity of steel production by earmarking 37% of all future government steel procurement to require green ammonia energy6.For green ammonia-based fertilizer production, the Solar Energy Corporation of India has issued a tender for procuring 0.75 million metric tons per year of green ammonia fertilizer (approximately 4% of domestic production)2. The Indian government has several reasons for investing in green ammonia-based fertilizers.First, although over 80% of the nitrogen fertilizers used in India are synthesized domestically, over 80% of the natural gas used for their synthesis is imported (44 million standard cubic meters per day)2. Not only is this importation costly (about $9 billion U.S. dollars per year)2, it also creates vulnerability to food insecurity due to price volatility and supply chain disruptions caused by pandemics and wars. Second, fertilizers produced from green ammonia could be a viable substitute for a portion of the urea used in Indian agriculture. Urea makes up about 85% of the nitrogen fertilizers used in India and is heavily subsidized, costing the government about $17 billion U.S. dollars annually2. Third, the adoption of green ammonia could help India reach its greenhouse gas emission reduction commitment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from domestic nitrogen fertilizer synthesis (currently 45 million metric tonnes CO2 per year)4. The Indian government offers credits for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and for reducing current subsidies of urea fertilizers. Green ammonia could qualify for both, which could help offset the costs of constructing and operating facilities, as well as the necessary infrastructure, training, and outreach to gain acceptance by farmers or other users.Green ammonia fertilizer production could be developed either in distributed small-scale operations at the community level7 or in large-scale plants (Supplementary Table 1). Small-scale green ammonia production units have been deployed in Canada, the United States, and Kenya, providing valuable learning opportunities for what might work in India. Some adaptations may be needed for the implementation of green ammonia-based fertilizers, as there is limited experience in India with using gaseous anhydrous ammonia or aqueous ammonia as fertilizer (aqueous ammonia is a solution of 10–20% ammonia dissolved in water). Therefore, application methods that are adoptable by farmers must be developed. Application to the soil surface could result in significant ammonia emissions, so soil injection technologies are needed. Alternatively, green ammonia can be converted to other forms of fertilizer, including urea, but at additional costs of securing a CO2 source8.In addition to fertilizer production, green ammonia could enable the production of alternative proteins for human and livestock consumption, thereby circumventing some of the current large nitrogen losses to the environment from Indian croplands1,9. For example, fungi grown with green ammonia and corn syrup (or other carbon sources) in fermentation reactors have been processed into an easily digested, protein-rich mycoprotein flour (Fig. 1) that can be used as a supplement to other flours for baking chapatis, which is an important source of calories in the typical Indian diet. When enriched with mycoprotein, chapatis and similar foods could help address the growing burden of diabetes as well as protein malnutrition. Mycoprotein has the advantage of adding protein to foods that are already widely consumed in India, thus not requiring a behavioral change. About 70% of the mycoprotein is fit for human consumption, and the remaining 30% would be best used for livestock feed supplementation. By producing animal feed protein directly from green ammonia, and thus relying less on growing crude crop protein, livestock production could utilize nitrogen more efficiently10.Fig. 1: Using green ammonia for the production of protein for human and livestock nutrition.Schematic of ACME Group’s production of mycoprotein using green ammonia synthesized with renewable energy as the source of nitrogen (https://www.acme.in/sustainable-foods) for enriching chapatis and other human food and as a livestock feed supplement. Renewable energy is used to split water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) gases. The H2 is combined with dinitrogen (N2) gas from the atmosphere to synthesize ammonia (NH3). The mycoprotein icon was provided by the ACME Group. The chapati and corn syrup icons are from image:Flaticon.com. All of the other icons are from the Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/media-library).Full size imageAmmonia is widely used as a refrigerant for cooling of crop storage facilities in communities throughout India, with opportunities to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of those facilities11. Hence, markets and experience already exist for shipping, storing, and handling ammonia. Green ammonia could penetrate the refrigerant market as the costs decline. With India’s extensive potential solar resource, green ammonia production could be widely distributed, thus reducing transportation costs of refrigerants and fertilizers7.ChallengesDespite opportunities to scale up green ammonia production for marine shipping fuel, fertilizer, and alternative protein production, India faces potential technological, socio-economic, and environmental challenges.Although India’s solar energy production potential is good8 and is already cost-competitive with other forms of electricity generation12, the competitiveness of green ammonia is also affected by the high costs of electrolyzers that split water to produce hydrogen. Technological developments to improve electrolyzer efficiencies from 60–70% to 80% or more would lower production costs13. In addition, there are human health and environmental risks associated with handling and combusting green ammonia, including ammonia emission slippage and unintended emissions of nitrogen oxides (an air pollutant) and nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas3,4,5. These risks can be minimized with an appropriate two-stage combustion design and other technological precautions currently under development14.There are also potential controversies surrounding land rights and environmental justice that arise from the development of large solar farms to support green ammonia production. Of India’s total solar energy potential, 15% is in areas that have experienced three or more land rights conflicts8. Water availability is another concern for green ammonia production in India, with 30% of solar energy development areas potentially facing significant water availability concerns8.A way forwardAs many private companies prepare to develop large-scale green ammonia facilities with governmental support, India faces challenges in unlocking its potential without unintended consequences that compromise human health, the environment, land rights, and environmental justice. This includes siting of large-scale solar farms as well as safety and leakage of ammonia and other gaseous byproducts.Further research is needed to create fertilizer products that Indian farmers can readily adopt and to study their effects on nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized croplands. Life cycle analyses are needed for the emerging mycoprotein market to evaluate its energy and greenhouse gas implications within the food chain, as well as human nutrition and health.Provided that these technological, socio-economic, and environmental challenges can be adequately addressed, there is good potential for green ammonia development to increase India’s low-carbon fuel and fertilizer production for domestic use and export, reduce the demand for subsidized urea and reliance on imported natural gas, and advance innovation of sustainable food production systems.ReferencesAdhya, T. K. et al. India National Nitrogen Policy Report: Scientific Evidence, Current Initiatives and Policy Landscape, UKRI-GCRF South Asia Nitrogen Hub (SANH) Policy Paper 2, https://sanh.inms.international/sites/default/files/2023-11/nitrogen_policy_report.pdf (2023).Annual Review of Fertilizer Production and Consumption 2023-2024. Indian J. Fertil. 20, 898–957 (2024).Garvey, S. M. et al. Comment: emerging opportunities and research questions for green ammonia adoption in agriculture and beyond. Nat. Rev. Clean Technol. 1, 10–11 (2024).Article Google Scholar Rosa, L. & Gabrielli, P. Energy and food security implications of transitioning synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to net-zero emissions. Environ. Res. Lett. 18, 014008 (2023).Article Google Scholar Wolfram, P., Kyle, P., Zhang, X., Gkantonas, S. & Smith, S. Using ammonia as a shipping fuel could disturb the nitrogen cycle. Nat. Energy 7, 1112–1114 (2022).Article Google Scholar Mishra, T. Steel Ministry proposes 37% purchase preference to green steel in government tenders. Economic Times, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/steel/steel-ministry-proposes-37-purchase-preference-to-green-steel-in-government-tenders/articleshow/116255489.cms?from=mdr (2024).Tonelli, D., Rosa, L., Gabrielli, P., Parente, A. & Contino, F. Cost-competitive decentralized ammonia fertilizer production can increase food security. Nat. Food 5, 469–479 (2024).Article Google Scholar Mallya, H., Yadav, D., Maheshwari, A., Bassi, N. & Prabhakar, P. Unlocking India’s RE and Green Hydrogen Potential: An Assessment of Land, Water, and Climate Nexus https://www.ceew.in/publications/how-can-india-unlock-renewable-energy-and-green-hydrogen-potential (New Delhi, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, 2024).Thirunagari, B. K., Kumar, R. & Kota, S. H. Assessing and mitigating India’s agricultural emissions: a regional and temporal perspective on crop residue, tillage, and livestock contributions. J. Hazard. Mater. 488, 137407 (2025).Article Google Scholar Davidson, E. A., Gu, B. & Kanter, D. Implementing nitrous oxide abatement measures, in Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment, (eds. Kanter, D. & Ravishankara, A. R.) https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/46562 (United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2024).Singha, P., Saini, S. K., Gupta, K. & Dasgupta, M. S. Transforming India’s legacy cold storage infrastructure: a study of energy, economic and environmental impact. Energy 322, 135657 (2025).Article Google Scholar Anand, S. India delivers 24x7 power at ₹6/kWh, cheaper than coal — Study flags AI investment. ETEnergy World https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/india-achieves-247-solar-powered-electricity-at-6kwh-outpacing-coalcosts/121560523#:~:text=New%20Delhi:%20Solar%2Dplus%2Dthe%20University%20of%20California%2C%20Berkeley (2025).Nnabuife, S. G., Hamzat, A. K., Whidborne, J., Kuang, B. & Jenkins, K. W. Integration of renewable energy sources in tandem with electrolysis: a technology review for green hydrogen production. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 107, 218–240 (2025).Article Google Scholar Rouwenhorst, K. Ammonia Energy Conference 2024: Ammonia for Maritime propulsion is full speed ahead! Ammonia Energy Association, https://ammoniaenergy.org/articles/ammonia-energy-conference-2024-ammonia-for-maritime-propulsion-is-full-speed-ahead/ (2024).Download referencesAcknowledgementsWe thank the Fulbright Fellowship program and the U.S.-India Education Foundation for supporting E.A.D. as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University for hosting the fellowship. We thank Prabhat Tanwar for assistance in researching the information presented in Table S1 and Manoj Upadhyay for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by the Global Nitrogen Innovation Center for Clean Energy and the Environment (NICCEE), which is funded by the US National Science Foundation under award no. 2330502.Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsAppalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, MD, USAEric A. DavidsonSpark Climate Solutions, Covina, CA, USAEric A. DavidsonGuru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, IndiaNandula RaghuramThe Sustainable India Trust, New Delhi, IndiaNandula RaghuramAuthorsEric A. DavidsonView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarNandula RaghuramView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsE.A.D. conceived and wrote the paper. N.R. helped enable the research and edited the manuscript.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to Eric A. Davidson.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Additional informationPublisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary informationSupplementary Table 1Rights and permissionsOpen Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleDownload PDF