Researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) have unveiled a revolutionary method to transform high-emissions waste into zero-carbon fertilizer, offering a sustainable solution for one of agriculture’s most carbon-intensive processes. The innovation, published in Nature Communications, uses renewable electricity to combine carbon dioxide with nitrogen pollutants like nitrate and nitrite—common contaminants from industrial and agricultural runoff—to produce urea, a vital crop fertilizer.
"Current urea production relies on fossil fuels, requiring extreme heat and pressure while generating massive emissions," explained UNSW Associate Professor Rahman Daiyan, the study’s corresponding author. "Our approach bypasses traditional methods by directly coupling waste CO₂ and nitrogen using green energy, paving the way for zero-carbon fertilizer."
The team’s atomic-scale copper-cobalt catalyst demonstrated superior efficiency in forming carbon-nitrogen bonds, outperforming existing systems. This breakthrough could reshape global agriculture, particularly in Australia, which imported 3.8 million tonnes of urea in 2024 due to limited domestic production.
The technology targets emissions from cement plants and agricultural waste streams, aligning with global decarbonization goals. If scaled, it could reduce reliance on fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers while repurposing harmful pollutants into valuable resources.
