European fertiliser plants use US ammonia made with shale gas, investigation reveals

Despite green promises, Yara and BASF’s Texas factory relies on highly polluting natural gas from Permian BasinThe coastal city of Freeport, Texas is a dense tangle of metal pipes, tanks and towers. Located 60 miles south of Houston, it’s home to a sprawling petrochemical complex – one of the largest and most polluting in the US.Among its facilities is a plant dedicated to the production of ammonia, a colourless compound of nitrogen and hydrogen and a key ingredient in fertilisers widely used on industrial arable farms – including on fields of barley, wheat and maize across Europe.This article was supported by a grant from Journalismfund.eu Continue reading...