A new device produces ammonia from air and wind energy, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-dependent methods for agriculture and clean energy applications.

The air we breathe holds the key to more sustainable agriculture, thanks to an innovative breakthrough by researchers at Stanford University and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. They have created a prototype device that uses wind energy to extract nitrogen from the air and convert it into ammonia—a critical ingredient in fertilizer.

If fully developed, this method could replace the traditional process of producing ammonia, which has been in use for over a century. The conventional method combines nitrogen and hydrogen at high pressures and temperatures, consuming 2% of the world’s energy and generating 1% of annual carbon dioxide emissions due to its reliance on natural gas. This new approach offers a cleaner, more energy-efficient alternative.

Princeton University and Xiamen University researchers report that in tropical and subtropical oligotrophic waters, ocean acidification reduces primary production, the process of photosynthesis in phytoplankton, where they take in carbon dioxide (CO₂), sunlight, and nutrients to produce organic matter (food and energy).

A six-year investigation found that eukaryotic phytoplankton decline under high CO₂ conditions, while cyanobacteria remain unaffected. Nutrient availability, particularly nitrogen, influenced this response.

Results indicate that ocean acidification could reduce primary production in oligotrophic tropical and subtropical oceans by approximately 10%, with global implications. When extrapolated to all affected low-chlorophyll ocean regions, this translates to an estimated 5 billion metric tons loss in global oceanic primary production, which is about 10% of the total carbon fixed by the ocean each year.