Nitricity began construction of its first commercial organic nitrogen fertilizer plant in Delhi, California, in 2025, marking the company’s transition from pilot production to commercial-scale manufacturing.
Founded at Stanford University in 2018, the startup secured $10 million in project financing from investors including Elemental Impact and Trellis Climate. The 1-megawatt (MW) facility expands production capacity by 100 times, with all projected output through 2028 already committed under binding offtake agreements with regional organic growers.
The investment addresses structural weaknesses in the nitrogen fertilizer market. Global supply remains concentrated around the fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process, which accounts for an estimated 2% to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The US imports more than half of its nitrogen fertilizer, exposing farmers to volatile natural gas prices, supply chain disruptions, and transportation costs that compress farm margins.
Nitricity’s production process replaces conventional ammonia synthesis with a system that combines recycled almond shells, air, water, and renewable electricity to produce “Ash Tea,” a liquid organic nitrogen fertilizer. The product is OMRI-listed, CDFA-approved, vegan, and pathogen-free, integrates with existing drip irrigation systems, reduces carbon intensity by 43%, and has delivered crop yield improvements of up to 23% in field trials. The combination of domestic production, lower emissions, and fully contracted capacity demonstrates growing commercial demand for localized fertilizer supply as producers seek to reduce both input costs and supply chain risk.
Electrifying nitrogen fertilizer production
Organic fertilizer programs remain heavily dependent on animal manure, feather meal, fish byproducts, and other agricultural waste streams. These inputs often provide inconsistent nutrient availability, generate strong odors, and carry pathogen contamination risks, limiting their scalability for modern agriculture. Nitricity’s approach replaces these conventional inputs with a decentralized production platform that uses air, water, renewable electricity, and upcycled biomass to manufacture nitrogen fertilizer near the point of use, reducing reliance on both fossil fuel-based production and long-distance supply chains.
The company’s technology uses high-voltage gliding-arc plasma reactors to replicate the nitrogen-fixing effect of lightning, converting atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen into nitrogen oxides that are dissolved in water to produce nitric acid. Neutralizing the acid with recycled California almond shell ash creates “Ash Tea,” a highly soluble liquid organic fertilizer compatible with existing drip and micro-sprinkler irrigation systems. The process combines localized production with plant-ready nitrogen delivery, positioning it as an alternative to conventional organic fertilizers constrained by feedstock availability and logistics.
Field trials validate agronomic performance
Field trials across Central California indicate that Nitricity’s fertilizer can improve yields while reducing nitrogen inputs. In a cilantro trial in Hollister, the company’s Calcium-Fortified Ash Tea increased yields by 3% to 10,887 pounds per acre while applying 24% less nitrogen than the farm’s conventional organic program. Soil and tissue analyses also showed higher nitrate availability throughout the growing season and up to a 47% reduction in chloride accumulation, lowering plant stress.
Results were stronger in a romaine lettuce trial in Soledad, where Ash Tea increased yields by 7.1% to 17.0 tons per acre on nutrient-leaching sandy loam soils. The treatment also improved leaf quality while reducing soil and leaf sodium levels by 13% and 29%, respectively. Across additional trials involving celery, raspberries, and leafy greens, growers reported yield improvements of up to 30% alongside better nutrient efficiency and healthier soil biology, suggesting the technology can deliver both productivity gains and agronomic resilience under commercial growing conditions.
Nitricity: Patenting activity
An analysis of Nitricity’s global intellectual property strategy reveals a focused effort to protect its decentralized, plasma-based fertilizer platform. Between 2020 and 2023, the company steadily built its patent portfolio, moving from initial R&D protection to scaling up commercial-grade systems.
Nitricity: Top Technology Areas
Nitricity’s patent portfolio reflects a multidisciplinary approach spanning chemical processing, plasma engineering, and fertilizer science. The largest share of filings falls under B01J, protecting the catalysts, reactor designs, and chemical processes behind its plasma-based nitrogen fixation technology. C05C and C05G complement this by covering nitrogenous fertilizers and fertilizer mixtures, emphasizing the company’s focus on commercial fertilizer applications.
The remaining portfolio protects key stages of the production process. B01D covers the separation and purification of nitrogen oxides, while H01J focuses on plasma generation and electrode design. C01B and C05D protect the chemical reactions that produce and stabilize inorganic nitrogen compounds, creating patent coverage from plasma generation through to the final fertilizer product.
Nitricity: Top Law Firms
To support this IP strategy, Nitricity works with established patent firms, with Polsinelli PC leading its global filings and Marks & Clerk LLP managing additional international prosecution. The company’s patent portfolio is concentrated in the United States and the European Patent Office (EPO), alongside international applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
This filing strategy secures protection in two major agricultural markets while supporting Nitricity’s California operations and planned European expansion, where its plasma-based fertilizer technology can be adapted to regional biomass feedstocks such as wood and olive waste.
Nitricity’s on-farm input redesign
Nitricity’s commercial scale-up is supported by robust, proprietary technical architecture engineered for rugged, on-farm chemical synthesis. Moving past fragile lab equipment, the company has secured foundational IP protecting the entire lifecycle of localized fertilizer production. These three key patents represent the vital pillars of Nitricity’s platform.
High-temperature synthesis of irrigable organic nitrogen
Organic producers struggle to find irrigable, nitrogen-rich organic fertilizers. Raw biological materials like almond or pistachio shells release nutrients too slowly, while compost and animal waste have low nutrient densities, pose pathogen risks, and cannot be used in irrigation systems. This invention resolves this major bottleneck by converting low-value regional waste, like almond shells, into an affordable, pathogen-free liquid fertilizer. Cultivators can dynamically deliver this highly concentrated organic nitrogen through existing drip irrigation systems, preventing nitrate runoff, eliminating seasonal overapplication, and promoting a circular agricultural economy.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2025/0197304 describes a system that transforms agricultural biomass waste directly into a liquid, irrigable, and pathogen-free organic nitrogen fertilizer. The system features a high-temperature combustion reactor (operating between 1500° C and 4500° C) powered by an electromagnetic plasma generator. Pulverized biomass, such as almond shells, is fed directly into a swirling nitrogen-gas plasma vortex. The intense heat of the plasma rapidly breaks down the complex biological structures, converting the solid biomass to mineral ash and releasing key plant nutrients like potassium and calcium. Simultaneously, the plasma fixes the atmospheric nitrogen gas, producing gaseous nitrogen oxides.
The mixture of hot ash and combustion gases is routed to an organic capture module and steeped in water. In this aqueous phase, the fixed nitrogen gas reacts to form nitric acid, which is immediately neutralized by the alkaline calcium carbonate equivalents naturally present in the biomass ash. The resulting liquid is filtered to remove any remaining particulates, yielding a stable, pH-neutral, and highly concentrated “ash tea” that is fully irrigable.
The patent, titled ‘Organic ash tea production for irrigable nitrogen fertilizer’, was filed on December 16, 2024, and published on June 19, 2025. The inventors listed are William Fantin, Ganesh Iyer, Joshua Mcenaney, Jason Corneille, Naveen Dhanapal, Nicolas Pinkowski, and John Anthony Schwalbe.
Fertigation: Coupling nitrogen generation directly to irrigation streams
Injecting nitrogen fertilizers into irrigation streams (fertigation) typically requires sourcing, shipping, and manually blending highly concentrated, hazardous synthetic chemicals. This reliance on off-site chemical manufacturing prevents growers from dynamically adjusting nutrient applications to match the immediate, real-time needs of the soil and crops. This transitions farmers from a centralized chemical supply chain to clean, on-demand fertilizer production, eliminating transportation costs and emissions. It enables precise, automated dosing dynamically matched with active irrigation cycles to minimize waste runoff and soil salinization.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2021/0360847 describes a decentralized, closed-loop fertigation system that couples a localized nitrogen compound generator directly to an active agricultural irrigation line. The system pulls in air and water, passing them through an on-site plasma reactor to generate an outlet stream of oxidized nitrogen species. An absorber receives this gas stream and dissolves the nitrogen oxides into water, producing a concentrated liquid stream of nitrates, nitrites, and nitric acid. To protect irrigation plumbing and crops from highly acidic runoff, the system routes this stream through an integrated neutralization chamber.
Here, basic compounds, such as calcium carbonate, lime, or potash, are automatically introduced, transforming the nitric acid into stable, crop-safe calcium nitrate or potassium nitrate fertilizers. An automated controller coupled with dynamic pH and conductivity sensors monitors the stream, activating flow valves to release the neutralized liquid fertilizer directly into the farm’s active irrigation line when water flow is detected.
The patent, titled ‘Device and method for combined generation and fertigation of nitrogen fertilizer’, was filed on June 1, 2021, and pre-granted on November 25, 2021 for Nitricity Inc. The inventors listed are Joshua Mcenaney, Nicolas Pinkowski, Brian Andrew Rohr and John Anthony Schwalbe.
Durable plasma reactors engineered for distributed, in-field use
While gliding-arc plasma reactors offer efficient nitrogen production, they must withstand severe operational environments characterized by high voltages, extreme thermal arcs, and corrosive substances such as ozone, nitric acid, and nitrous oxides that swiftly degrade conventional electrodes. To make distributed, in-field plasma generation economically viable, this design confines extreme wear to cheap, replaceable components. Swapping a small strike sheath is much faster and cheaper than replacing a full custom electrode assembly, dramatically lowering maintenance costs, minimizing operational downtime, and extending the lifespan of on-farm fertilizer generators.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0126050 details a gliding-arc plasma reactor designed for durability and field serviceability. Operating under harsh conditions like high voltages and corrosive chemicals, standard electrodes wear rapidly. To reduce maintenance costs and downtime, this design features a gas-tight chamber with divergent electrodes equipped with removable, arc-resistant striking sheaths (e.g., copper-tungsten, molybdenum, or platinum) over the narrowest gap.
By confining extreme wear to these economical, easily replaceable components with beveled transition edges, Nitricity extends reactor lifespans while minimizing material costs. Farm operators can quickly swap worn sheaths using basic tools via a removable baseplate and access cover.
The patent, titled ‘Durable and serviceable plasma reactor for fertilizer production’, was filed on October 20, 2022, and pre-granted on April 27, 2023 for Nitricity Inc. The inventors listed are Joshua Mcenaney, Nicolas Pinkowski, and John Anthony Schwalbe.