The Human Impacts Database

A collection of useful numbers for quantifying the impacts of the human presence on Earth.

Global production mass of nitrogen contained in ammonia (NH3)

Atmospheric & Biogeochemical CyclesNitrogen

This quantity comes from a time series measurement and the most recent value (2021) is reported.

Value:

This is equivalent to...

≈ 1.50 × 108 tonnes N / yr
HuID: 60580
Relevant Year(s): 2021
Summary: The approximate mass of nitrogen in ammonia (NH3) produced globally. Ammonia is the primary derivative of atmospheric (N2) and is thus a prerequisite for synthesis of downstream nitrogen compounds. Nearly all of this mass is derived from the Haber-Bosch Process (Smith et al. 2020, DOI: 10.1039/c9ee02873k). In the United States most of this mass is used for fertilizer, with the remainder being used to synthesize nitrogen-containing chemicals including explosives, plastics, and pharmaceuticals (≈ 88%, USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020).
Method: The values reported here are published in the annual USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries in units of thousand metric tons and are converted to units of Mt in the processed dataset. Oftentimes, the value for the most recent year is estimated and is subject to change in the next release of the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS). The MCS is released each year since 1996 and gives values for the two prior years. These data are concatenated into the processed csv file by preferentially using the latest value for a given year. They are based on an inventory of production from major ammonia plants. Thus, the value reflects the annual production of ammonia, not the annual usage of ammonia. No assessment of uncertainty is made.
Source: United States Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center, Commodity Statistics and Information. (2022)
Dataset: Ammonia production in years 1994-2021 (USGS_ammonia_production_1994-2021.csv)
global resolution
Trend:
Original Data License: USGS Open Data Policy
Added By: gchure