Feeding the Population of the Valeriepieris Circle – Challenges and Opportunities for Modern Fertiliser Production. The 34th Francis New Memorial Lecture

The Valeriepieris circle is a projection of an area covering approximately 10% of the world where 50% of the population lives. The circle centre is drawn from a city in Myanmar and has a radius of c.3200 kilometres. In this area about 90% of the world’s rice output is cultivated, contributing around 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, comparable to the contribution from fertiliser production of 0.8%. Rice is deeply ingrained into the cultural identities of countries within the circle.

Rice cultivation consumes about 16% of world nitrogen (N) production – similar to wheat (18%) and maize (20%). It is estimated that between 25 to 50% of the N used for rice cultivation is lost to the air. Rice is both a victim of and a contributor to climate change: creating a feedback loop that endangers food security.

Rice production is projected to grow by 30% by 2050. Throughout South East Asia zinc deficiency is identified as a public health concern, as up to 70% of the population may be affected. High deficiencies are detected among children and women. Zinc biofortified rice varieties may provide 60% of the daily needs; an alternative strategy is through agronomic biofortification using zinc fertilisers to combat micronutrient malnutrition.

Soil Health in the region is under increasing pressure due to climate change, unsustainable agricultural practices and land degradation. ASEAN guidelines on soil and nutrient management promote sustainable practices. A number of fertiliser additives can contribute to tropical soil health.

When Brunei Fertiliser Industries (BFI) was established, these factors naturally provided the basis for determining the requirements of a new production unit. General features of modern ammonia plants include maximum efficiency, minimised environmental impact and integration of advanced technologies for process control and sustainability.

Building a production unit in a country without any previous fertiliser manufacturing experience and constructing it during the Covid 19 epidemic was clearly a challenge. Nonetheless, safety during construction, commissioning and production was managed with excellent results , with a series of good practice requirements being established and ingrained.

Implementing the innovative Rotainer technology in Brunei, which allows clean and dry transfer of bulk materials, overcomes the challenges from tropical weather and monsoon impacts, as well as the strict requirements for non-contaminated fertiliser exports to Oceania. The system enables high loading rates up to 25.000 tpd.

Having such a transport system enabled BFI to introduce a system of online coating with just-on-time delivery. This presents a perfect example of turning a challenge to become an advantage. With multiples of only 22 tonnes any quantities of tailored products can be supplied to battle emissions, micronutrient efficiency or soil health, for rice cultivation. This enables a significant potential for reducing Scope 3 emissions in the Valeriepieris circle as well as a simultaneous response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No 2 to ‘…end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.