US firm reinvents century‑old ammonia production tech to cut costs

California-based startup Ammobia has reinvented the century-old Haber-Bosch process for ammonia production, achieving significant reductions in energy demand and costs. The traditional Haber-Bosch method, developed over 100 years ago, produces ammonia by reacting atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen derived from methane at very high temperatures (around 500°C) and pressures (200 bar). This process is energy-intensive and heavily reliant on fossil fuels, contributing up to 2% of global emissions. Ammobia’s updated approach operates at temperatures 150°C lower and pressures ten times less than the conventional method, enabling ammonia production with reduced fossil fuel use and cutting production costs by up to 40%. Ammobia’s innovation involves adding a sorbent to the reactor to rapidly remove ammonia from the catalyst, allowing the reaction to proceed more efficiently, though specific technical details remain proprietary. The startup has successfully operated a small-scale reactor for over a year and plans to build a commercial-scale plant capable of producing 10 tons per day initially