The hydrogen and nitrogen product maker said it has partnered with Poet and major agricultural cooperatives to demonstrate how lower-carbon fertilisers can cut the carbon intensity of corn and enable the production of lower-carbon ethanol.

Ammonia fertilisers produced at CF’s carbon capture and storage (CCS)-equipped Donaldsonville plant began reaching corn growers in Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska last autumn.

Poet intends to use corn grown with the low-carbon fertilisers at its ethanol production facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, which Poet says could enable the production of up to 5–6 million gallons of ethanol.

Poet Grain President, Christian McIlvan, said the trial offered an additional pathway for the biofuel maker to reduce the carbon intensity of its fuels, while “delivering environmental and economic benefit for rural communities.”

CF Chief Commercial Officer Bert Frost, added, “Fertilisers manufactured with a lower carbon intensity provide a quantifiable and certifiable method of decarbonising bioethanol inputs.”

It builds on a 2024 agreement between CF and Poet.

The project adds to potential end-markets for low-carbon hydrogen-based ammonia as CF looks to ramp up production.

In July, the firm started up a CCS system at its Donaldsonville plant in Louisiana to produce up to 1.9 million tonnes of low-carbon ammonia per year.

CF has also taken final investment decision on a 1.4 million tonne per year blue ammonia project with Japanese power majors Jera and Mitsui.

While interest has grown in ammonia’s role as a hydrogen carrier or clean fuel, industry is increasingly looking at using decarbonised hydrogen sources to clean up existing fertilisers.

At COP30 in Brazil, the Hydrogen Council, Unido, Ammonia Energy Association, and International Fertiliser Association launched the Low-Emission Ammonia Fertiliser Initiative (LEAF) to accelerate the use of clean hydrogen-based fertilisers.