Sustainability performance of ammonia production: the contribution of Industry 4.0 and renewables to enhance the triple bottom line

A low-carbon transition is underway in the Australian ammonia industry, underpinned by the development of intelligent technologies. A novel framework to assess the sustainability of ammonia production is developed herein by utilising the triple bottom line (TBL) methodology. As the first TBL study of the ammonia production process, industry and academic professionals are consulted to establish nine weighted performance indicators using survey data. Three scenarios are evaluated, involving increasing levels of automation and Industry 4.0 technologies applied to blue ammonia production. Process data are acquired from literature and a local case study to validate the assessment procedure. An aggregated sustainability index is generated, simultaneously considering a firm's environmental, social, and economic performance relative to the increasing technological advances. The resulting analysis determined scenario 3 as the most sustainable manufacturing process. This suggests further implementation of emerging technologies will continue to yield positive sustainability outcomes for each bottom line. © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.