An soon-to-be-built facility in Belle Plaine, Sask. will be supplying Canadian farmers with lower-carbon crop nutrition, courtesy of carbon capture and sequestration.

Saskatoon-based Genesis Fertilizers LP plans to produce over 1.1 million tonnes of ammonia and nitrogen-based fertilizers per year, and capture up to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the process.

Using technology from South Korean company CARBONCO Pte Ltd., 95 per cent of the CO2 from the facility's flue gas will be captured before it escapes into the atmosphere, and injected into a local site for long-term storage.

“We have been looking at ways of making the plant as low-carbon intensity as possible,” Mark Smith, chief financial officer of Genesis, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada, “Because why would we not take the opportunity of using new technology to produce the most sustainable way we can?”

The facility will be Genesis’ first, scheduled to begin operations in 2029, and will cost approximately $2.3 billion. The company’s president and CEO Jason Mann is also the CEO of Saskatoon-based AgraCity Crop & Nutrition Ltd.

Why Genesis chose carbon capture

Vital for maintaining large agricultural yields, synthetic fertilizers are made through energy-intensive chemical processes that can emit large amounts of CO2 (depending on the electricity source) and are broken down into the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide when strewn on soil.

One study suggests synthetic fertilizers are responsible for two per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian government noted the contribution of synthetic fertilizers in a paper addressing agricultural sector pollution.

Cracking natural gas to separate the hydrogen is a step to producing a commonly used fertilizer called urea, but such a process results in a significant amount of CO2 emissions, Smith explained.

Aware of the effect of producing nitrogen-rich urea from natural gas, Genesis explored combating that pollution with methods such as producing carbon-free ammonia. But the high costs for the green ammonia meant an alternative had to be found. Genesis opted for carbon capture and sequestration to minimize its climate impact.

Though the financial payback is not as large as a fertilizer facility not equipped with carbon capture, Genesis “believes it’s the right thing to do” and “all the companies and lenders will be interested in our ESG credentials,” Smith said.

Additionally, the future facility will be energy efficient, he added.

Keeping carbon in Belle Plaine

CARBONCO’s carbon capture technology will absorb most of the CO2 from urea production with a reusable chemical named amine. The greenhouse gas would be extracted, compressed, purified and delivered to the in-construction Belle Plaine Carbon Hub managed by Whitecap Resources Inc.

Located above an underground saline aquifer, the CO2 would be pumped into the porous rocks for durable, permanent depositing.

Another environmental advantage is the displacing of fertilizer purchases from overseas such as Russia or Saudi Arabia, which are large fertilizer importers. Smith said Genesis can supply Canadian farmers with a homegrown product that carries reduced transportation pollution.

By selling a fertilizer made with less carbon than the competition, Genesis can offer a product that addresses the carbon intensity of food, Smith said.

“The farmers that are buying our fertilizer, where we’ve captured all available CO2, it’s different than some marketing that other companies have done.”

Though the carbon capture does not address the nitrous oxide emissions, farmers in Western Canada often mitigate such pollution with farming practices that result in low soil disturbance. Genesis also intends to treat its products with a slow release technology to "significantly reduce the risk of excess nitrous oxide escaping to the atmosphere," Smith said in an email exchange. 

In neighbouring Alberta, Saskatoon-based Nutrien proposed a study to integrate carbon capture at its Redwater ammonia facility.

And in Europe, a trial between German and Dutch companies is aiming to produce wheat grown with the help of a low-carbon fertilizer made from biomethane rather than natural gas.

Progress on the facility

Genesis signed an agreement for an engineering study in November to design the building around factors such as winter conditions. The study will take approximately one year to finish, Smith said, and Genesis' leadership hopes to see it completed by Q1 2026.

A final investment decision is scheduled to be made the quarter after, and construction to start in the latter half of the year. If all goes to plan, commissioning is set to start in the second half of 2029.

Genesis investigated the opportunity to produce blue ammonia – a natural gas replacement made from nitrogen and hydrogen subject to carbon capture. Target markets would be South Korea and Japan, two countries taking particular interest in hydrogen to meet decarbonization goals.

Though the blue ammonia plan has been paused, Genesis is still considering it as an option. For now, the company’s efforts are concentrated on its one facility, Smith said.