The role of green ammonia in meeting challenges towards a sustainable development in China

TL;DR

This paper explores how green ammonia can help China overcome energy, environmental, and regional development challenges by promoting sustainable energy transition, reducing fossil fuel dependence, and supporting industry decarbonization.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of green ammonia's role in China's sustainable development, including regional productivity assessment and potential applications for low-carbon transition.

Findings

Green ammonia can reduce fossil energy consumption in China.

Co-firing ammonia in coal power plants is viable for low-carbon goals.

Green ammonia supports energy security and regional development.

Abstract

This paper discusses the adoption of a green ammonia economy in meeting challenges in China's sustainable development. First, key challenges in China's energy transition, industry decarbonziation and regional sustainable development are explored. The coal-dominated energy consumption has placed great obstacles in achieving energy transition and led to massive CO2 emission since the large-scale industrialization. The high dependency on oil and gas import has threatened the energy security. A DEA model is applied for obtaining green total factor productivities of China's six administrative regions, with which, imbalanced and unsustainable regional development is identified. Second, the role of green ammonia in meeting the sustainability challenges is analysed. Ammonia is examined to be a flexible and economic option for large-scale hydrogen transport and storage. Co-firing ammonia in coal power generation at 3% rate is evaluated as an option for achieving low-carbon transition by 2030. The adoption of a green ammonia economy in China is discussed from energy, environmental and economic aspects. The practice can decline fossil energy consumption, enhance energy security, and facilitate renewable energy delivery and storage, industry decarbonization, and regional development. We assume the findings and results contribute to addressing sustainability challenges and realizing a hydrogen economy in China.