Ammonia
The second-most produced chemical in the world, ammonia's molecular structure is a single nitrogen atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms. It's used in huge volumes in agriculture, among other industries, and current production techniques are dirty and energy-intensive, using about 2% of the world's fossil-fuel energy and producing around 1% of total global man-made greenhouse emissions.
Ammonia has considerable potential as a clean fuel, storing more than 20 times as much energy by weight as today's lithium batteries. A lot of current research is focused on new totally clean production methods, as well as on new ways of extracting energy from ammonia as a potentially clean way to power long-haul ships and trucks.
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Having already rolled out the world's first ammonia-fueled tractor and the world's first ammonia-fueled semi truck, Brooklyn company Amogy has now got hold of a 1957 tugboat, and plans to have the world's first ammonia-powered ship sailing this year. -
Science is quickly catching up to the powerful sniffers on dogs with its own range of artificial noses. Case in point: researchers modified E. coli bacteria to spin electrically conductive nanowires capable of detecting disease-related odor molecules. -
Claiming a system-level energy density 5X higher than batteries, Amogy has rolled out "the world's first ammonia-powered, zero-emission semi truck." It holds about 900 kWh of energy, like the Tesla Semi, but you can refuel it in about eight minutes. -
If all the major green ammonia projects on our shortlist are completed on schedule, their combined production total will be more than half of today's global ammonia industry by the mid-2030s – eliminating nearly 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions. -
A fundamental chemistry breakthrough promises to unlock ammonia as a clean fuel, and decarbonize the chemical industry in the process. Rice University researchers have created a small, LED-powered device that converts ammonia to hydrogen on the fly. -
Interest is growing in alternative fuel sources for heavy-duty vehicles that help sidestep heavy diesel pollution, and Amogy has broken new ground in this area by fitting its ammonia-fueled zero-emissions energy system to a John Deere tractor. -
Australian company Aviation H2 hopes to clean up commercial flight by converting existing aircraft to burn green ammonia instead of jet fuel. Director Christof Mayer tells us the team plans to have a 9-seat business jet flying on ammonia by mid-2023. -
Hydrogen City will eventually harness 60 gigawatts of solar and wind energy, and use it to produce over 2.5 billion kilograms of green hydrogen a year, keeping it underground in storage caverns at the Piedras Pintas salt dome before transport. -
Ammonia is commonly used in commercial crop fertilizers, which in turn can pollute waterways when they run off of fields. New research, however, suggests that engineered bacteria could one day take the place of such fertilizers. -
Scientists at Australia's Monash University claim to have made a critical breakthrough in green ammonia production that could displace the extremely dirty Haber-Bosch process, with the potential to eliminate nearly 2% of global greenhouse emissions. -
Canada's FuelPositive says its modular, container-sized ammonia production units will deliver 100 tonnes of green ammonia a year at costs around US$444/tonne, a big discount on what you'd pay for highly polluting gray ammonia in today's market. -
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has announced he's challenged his team to get the world's first ammonia-powered ship into service by 2022, following their rapid success with hydrogen mining trucks and ammonia-powered locomotives.
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