Decarbonising Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Net-Zero Agriculture

固氮对我们的食物供应至关重要，因为氮是一种不可替代的植物必需营养素。事实上，据估计，如果人类固氮生产的肥料无法获得，世界上三分之一到一半的人口将会饿死。然而，目前的固氮方法（特别是haber Bosch工艺）是不可持续的，也是全球二氧化碳排放的主要贡献者。在这个提议中，我们寻求开发一种新的氮固定途径，最终可以彻底改变最先进的硝酸盐和氨生产。具体来说，该项目旨在开发一种新的声化学方法来固定氮，这种方法比传统方法更具可持续性，并且可以促进向净零肥料生产的过渡。我们将通过开发一种用于固氮的声化学流动系统，并通过在各种条件下操作该系统来优化固氮过程，从而实现这一目标。这将为我们寻求在现实世界中应用时进一步开发和扩展系统提供跳板。

Nitrogen fixation is critical for our food supply because nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient that has no substitute. Indeed,it is estimated that between a third and half of the world's population would starve to death if the fertilisers producedthrough anthropogenic nitrogen fixation were not available. However, current methods for nitrogen fixation (in particular, theHaber Bosch process) are unsustainable and major contributors to global carbon dioxide emissions.In this proposal, we seek to develop a new route to the fixation of nitrogen that could ultimately turn the state-of-the-art innitrate and ammonia production on its head. Specifically, this project aims to develop a new sonochemical route for thefixation of nitrogen that is more sustainable than conventional approaches and that can facilitate the transition to net-zerofertiliser production. We will achieve this through the development of a sonochemical flow system for nitrogen fixation andthrough operating this under a variety of conditions in order to optimise the nitrogen fixation process. This will provide aspringboard for further development and scale up of the system as we seek to move towards application in the real world.