Blue vs. Green: A comparative analysis of ammonia production and export in Western Canada and Australia

In a net-zero future, the global trade of traditional hydrocarbons will decline, increasingly replaced with the international transport of energy carriers that generate no greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ammonia is a zeroemission energy carrier that could playa significant role in providing energy to countries like Japan, which are challenged to meet their own energy demands. Canada and Australia are among the nations that have the potential to produce cost effective low GHG ammonia for export. Emission free electricity from Australia's solar and wind resources could be used to produce 'green' ammonia. In Canada, natural gas could be reformed to 'blue' ammonia if the byproduct CO2 is captured and sequestered. This study uses techno-economic tools to compare the cost of ammonia production and transport to Japan from either Canada or Australia in 2020, 2030 and 2050. In 2020 and 2030, the costs were estimated to be significantly lower for ammonia production and transport in Canada (US$422/tNH3 and US$458/tNH3, respectively) than in Australia (US$850/tNH3 and US$631/tNH3, respectively). However, by 2050, the projected costs were similar in Canada (US$463/tNH3) and Australia (US$510/tNH3). The lower cost of input energy for hydrogen production in Canada from natural gas accounted for Canada's overall cost advantage.