The race to achieve carbon-free fertilizers It is taking key steps both in Europe and in other parts of the world, with initiatives that combine technological innovation, business alliances and new ways of producing nutrients for crops with a much smaller climate footprint.
In Spain, the agricultural sector is beginning to adopt low carbon footprint fertilizers In real-world farms, scientific advances from Australia point to a future production of urea that is virtually fossil fuel-free. All of this is shaping a new fertilization model more aligned with climate goals and the need to maintain competitive agricultural yields.
Fertiberia and Agro Cycle Life: promoting low-carbon fertilization in citrus fruits
In the European sphere, one of the most relevant developments is the agreement between Fertiberia and the agro-industrial company Agro Cycle Lifewho have signed a five-year collaboration to transform the way citrus fruits and other woody crops are fertilized in Spain.
The central focus of the alliance is the application of the range Impact Zero, high value added fertilizers with a low carbon footprint produced with green hydrogenalong with other biotechnology-based solutions. The stated objective is to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with fertilization, while maintaining or improving yields and protecting soil health.
During the term of the agreement, Agro Cycle Life plans to progressively use up to 180 tons of the Impact Zero Impulse Progress 2 productThis represents a significant volume of fertilizers with a much more favorable climate profile than conventional formulations.
Agro Cycle Life, based in the Valencian Community, manages 11 farms and approximately 366 hectares dedicated to the sustainable production of citrus fruits and avocados. The company was already working with precision farming to optimize inputs, improve soil condition and reduce environmental impact, and now incorporates the climate dimension more explicitly with low-emission fertilizers.
Its chief agronomist, Jordi Camarena, emphasizes that the use of fertilizers high added value and low carbon This allows them to better adjust dosages, reduce traditional inputs, and increase the nutritional efficiency of crops, with direct effects on yield and soil quality. According to the company, opting for solutions like Impact Zero fits with a strategy of producing "more and better" without increasing environmental pressure and aligning with emissions reduction targets.
From Fertiberia, Clément Knockaert, head of low-carbon fertilizers for the group, emphasizes that agreements of this type reinforce a network of allies committed to the sustainability of the countrysideThanks to a portfolio based on cutting-edge technologies and reduced emissions, the company sees these collaborations as a way to position Spanish agriculture at the forefront of agritech innovation on an international scale.
This alliance is not limited to a simple supply of products: it strengthens the role of both firms within a value chain that drives the transition towards more efficient and climate-responsible agriculture, in line with European policies for the decarbonization of the agricultural sector.
Carbon-free urea: the scientific shift from Australia
While trade agreements to cut emissions are being implemented in Europe, in Australia, a team of scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has developed an experimental process that could change the way one of the world's most widely used fertilizers, urea, is manufactured.
The research group has designed a method capable of converting high-emission waste in fertilizers without generating added carbon
The key to the system lies in the use of electricity from renewable sources to activate an electrochemical reaction that combines carbon dioxide with nitrogenous pollutants present in water and industrial waste. Instead of following the traditional route based on natural gas or coal, the process aims for a much cleaner urea production method.
In current methods, urea production relies on ammonia—generated through energy-intensive processes—and requires high temperatures and pressuresThis drives up both fossil fuel consumption and associated emissions. The new approach aims to overcome this dependence by directly integrating carbon and nitrogen flows that are currently considered waste.
According to associate professor Rahman Daiyan, one of those responsible for the study, urea is the fertilizer that feeds the crops of more than half of the world's populationHowever, its current production methods are incompatible with long-term climate goals. Hence the ambition to move towards “carbon-free urea,” produced using renewable energy and recycling emissions that would otherwise continue to contribute to global warming.
Advanced catalysts for a more efficient process
The work, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.It describes in detail the development of a catalyst specifically designed to make this new urea production scheme viable. This catalyst, a copper-cobalt material configured at the atomic scale, plays a fundamental role in the system's efficiency.
This copper-cobalt catalyst It promotes a strong synergy in the controlled bonding of carbon and nitrogen, increasing the urea formation rate compared to other existing electrochemical methods. By improving this key reaction step, it opens the door to more energy- and yield-competitive manufacturing.
The procedure combines residual carbon dioxide with nitrogen compounds such as nitrates and nitrites, common in waterways associated with intensive agriculture or certain industrial processes. Transforming them into urea using renewable electricity offers a double advantage: pollution mitigation and the generation of an essential fertilizer.
Another relevant aspect of the work is that the system proposes to eliminate ammonia as an intermediary, simplifying the production chain and, at the same time, avoiding one of the links with the highest emissions. If industrial scaling confirms these results, we could be talking about a drastic reduction of urea's carbon footprint compared to conventional technology.
The researchers insist that the process is still in a stage of technological development, but they emphasize its potential to be integrated into facilities that already generate CO₂ and nitrogenous waste, taking advantage of what is currently considered an environmental problem as a raw material for fertilization.
Impact on agriculture and food security
The implications of urea produced virtually without fossil fuels are broad, both for exporting countries and for net fertilizer-importing regions. In the case of Australia, one of the world's major agricultural players, the dependence of urea from the outside is considerable.
In 2024, the country imported around 3,8 million tons of urea due to limited local production capacity. An electrochemical technology based on renewable electricity could reduce this dependence, strengthen security of supply, and, incidentally, lower the carbon footprint of the entire food system.
The process proposed by UNSW focuses not only on replacing natural gas or coal, but also on revaluation of unavoidable emissions originating from sectors such as the cement industry or certain agricultural waste. Converting these flows into fertilizers opens the door to circular economy models in which nothing—or almost nothing—is wasted.
From a climate change perspective, the combination of CO₂ recycling, renewable electricity use, and nitrogen pollutant capture could significantly reduce emissions associated with one of the most widely used inputs in global agriculture. All of this can be achieved without sacrificing productivity, a critical aspect for ensuring food security.
For Europe and Spain, technologies of this type are particularly interesting in a context of Energy transition and transformation of the agricultural modelAlthough the development took place in Australia, the principles on which it is based could be applied in European fertilizer plants, provided there are sources of renewable electricity and suitable waste streams.
A paradigm shift in carbon-free fertilizers
The adoption of low-carbon fertilizers on farms like those of Agro Cycle Life, together with cutting-edge research from UNSW, reflects a paradigm shift in the way we understand fertilizationIt's no longer just about providing nutrients, but about doing so while minimizing its climate impact and making better use of resources.
In Spain, agreements such as the one between Fertiberia and Agro Cycle Life show that the sector is willing to incorporate cleaner technological solutionsThese developments range from fertilizers made with green hydrogen to precision agriculture tools that allow for adjusted doses and reduced losses. They align with European decarbonization strategies and the increasing environmental requirements for agricultural production.
In parallel, research into carbon-free fertilizers is progressing towards scenarios in which urea could be produced from captured CO₂ and nitrogenous pollutantsWith the support of renewable energy, if these processes can be scaled up competitively, the global fertilizer industry could take a leap similar to that of other sectors already electrifying their operations.
The combination of industrial and scientific innovation suggests that future fertilization will be more localized, more efficient, and less dependent on fossil raw materials. In the medium term, we are likely to see an increasing supply of fertilizers with zero emissions or very low carbon footprint, supported by certifications and standards that allow verification of their real contribution to the fight against global warming.
Although there is still a way to go, the progress of business agreements in Europe and scientific projects such as the one at UNSW indicates that the transition to carbon-free fertilizers has ceased to be a mere aspiration and has become a concrete line of work, with practical applications and a significant potential impact on agriculture and the climate.
