Research database

The Haber-Bosch process, developed at the beginning of the 20th century, has been credited with enabling food production that has fed 30-50 % of the planet. It is a way to use nitrogen (N2) from the air and combine it with hydrogen to produce ammonia (NH3). Synthetic NH3 produced in this way is used in fertilisers all over the world. While it is one of the most important chemical processes today, the extremely high pressures and temperatures required for the reaction to proceed come at the expense of significant energy consumption and emissions. The EU-funded SuN2rise project plans to bring this process into the 21st century by facilitating NH3 production from air and water through a sun-powered reaction.