Green Ammonia Research Centre to be Co-Led by U of G Researcher

A University of Guelph researcher is the Canadian lead on a new global research centre that will investigate the challenges and opportunities of green ammonia in food production and clean energy. 

Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle, a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences within the Ontario Agricultural College, will collaborate with colleagues from the University of Maryland (U.S.) and Rothamsted Research (U.K.) to establish the Global Nitrogen Innovation Center for Clean Energy and the Environment (NICCEE). The NICCEE will be based at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and led by Dr. Xin Zhang. 

Ammonia, a compound made of nitrogen and hydrogen, is an important fertilizer, supplying plants with nitrogen for growth and improved crop yields.  

Conventional ammonia production relies on fossil fuels and releases a lot of greenhouse gas. Green ammonia uses renewable and carbon-free resources instead and has the potential to enhance food production and provide clean fuel while mitigating climate change.  

NICCEE aims to ensure new green ammonia technologies, practices and policies work well for farmers and other stakeholders without causing unintended social and environmental problems, such as nitrogen pollution. 

Wagner-Riddle’s research team has received almost $3.5 million for the project from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) through the National Science Foundation Global Centers initiative, an innovative partnership between funding agencies in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S. that supports international collaborative research on climate change and clean energy. 

“The University of Guelph is proud to be part of this important international partnership,” said Dr. Rene Van Acker, interim vice-president (research). “It will enhance research efforts and foster international dialogue, leading to better informed decision-making that spans from individual farms to national policy.”