Comment by hn_throwaway_99
3 days ago
I didn't realize this previously but straight anhydrous ammonia can be used directly in the field as a fertilizer - specialized trucks just inject it directly into the soil where it dissolves in soil moisture.
Yes, it needs to be stored as a "toxic pressurized liquid" in steel tanks, but we store and use lots of toxic pressurized liquids all the time. Lots of people run all their energy needs off propane tanks, after all.
I think bacteria will convert it to ammonia nitrate, but I could be wrong. I do some hydro and the guidance is not to do it with hydro because the bacteria don’t grow as well so they won’t convert it into something plants can eat.
> we store and use lots of toxic pressurized liquids all the time. Lots of people run all their energy needs off propane tanks, after all.
That’s stored at rest, not being pumped through pipes. We could probably store it locally and send people to collect it, that might be cheaper than power lines.
I would be surprised if maintaining pipes to transport pressurized liquid or gas was cheaper than power lines. Power lines aren’t free, but super cheap relative to pipes that can leak everywhere.