Securing a Stable Supply of Clean Ammonia

Ube Industries (Head office: Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; President and Representative Director: Masato Izumihara), Sumitomo Chemical (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; Representative Director and President: Keiichi Iwata), Mitsui Chemicals (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Osamu Hashimoto) and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and Representative Director: Masashi Fujii) have agreed to launch a joint study into securing a stable supply of clean ammonia.

Ammonia is widely used as a raw material for fertilizers and chemical products. Meanwhile, ammonia is expected to see strong growth in global demand in the coming years, as it will be used as a next-generation energy source as part of efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, taking advantage of its properties, such as not emitting carbon dioxide during combustion and having a high hydrogen content. The “Sixth Strategic Energy Plan,” announced by the Japanese government in October 2021, points out that it is necessary to ensure a stable supply of ammonia as a fuel. In particular, it highlights the need to secure stable supplies of clean ammonia, such as blue ammonia—ammonia generated by leveraging carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology to either use or separate, collect and store underground the carbon dioxide emitted from ammonia production using fossil fuels as raw materials—and green ammonia, derived from renewable energy sources.

In response to these circumstances, the four companies, on top of each company’s respective efforts, will start studying measures for securing clean ammonia, with the aim of making stable and competitive supplies of clean ammonia available in Japan.