By disrupting normal societal activities such as driving, COVID-19 lockdowns afforded a unique opportunity to study their impacts on the environment. Researchers now report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters that satellite data from before and during the spring 2020 lockdown in Los Angeles shows that vehicles, rather than... Read more →

Swiss engine designer WinGD, a leading developer of two-stroke low-speed gas and diesel engines used for propulsion power in merchant shipping, said that its engines will be able to run on methanol and ammonia from 2024 and 2025 respectively. WinGD’s multi-fuel solutions will be based on its well-established diesel-fueled X... Read more →

A combined experimental and computational study published in Nature Catalysis shows promising results for a new class of catalysts producing ammonia under mild conditions. The production of ammonia amounts to about 200 megatons per year. This makes it the second-most produced chemical in the world, surpassed only by sulfuric acid.... Read more →

A research team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has identified a new way to convert ammonia to nitrogen gas through a process that could be a step toward ammonia replacing carbon-based fuels. The discovery of this technique, which uses a metal catalyst and releases—rather than requires—energy, was reported in Nature... Read more →

KazMunayGas, the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, and the technology company Linde have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate and develop jointly clean energy projects in Kazakhstan. The first stage of cooperation will focus on exploring the opportunity of producing hydrogen and ammonia using natural gas as... Read more →

Haldor Topsoe will deliver its blue ammonia technology for Air Products’ recently announced $4.5-billion clean energy complex in Louisiana. (Earlier post.) Air Products will build, own and operate the megaproject, which will produce more than 750 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of blue hydrogen in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä and Norwegian ship owner Eidesvik Offshore ASA have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at converting an offshore supply vessel (OSV) to operate with an ammonia-fueled combustion engine with required fuel supply and safety system. This project will be the first of its kind and has a... Read more →

Höegh Autoliners entered into a Letter of Intent (LoI) with China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. (CMHI) to build a series of its multi-fuel and ammonia-ready Aurora class vessels. Under the terms of the LoI, the first two vessels will be delivered in the second half of 2024. The... Read more →

Wärtsilä and the Korean shipbuilding company Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have signed a joint development program (JDP) agreement aimed at developing ammonia-fueled vessels with 4-stroke auxiliary engines available for future newbuild projects. Both parties recognise the importance of future carbon-free fuels in the marine industry’s drive towards decarbonization. The agreement... Read more →

thyssenkrupp has been awarded a contract to perform a technical study for a new green hydrogen and green ammonia project by the Emirati company Helios. A water electrolysis plant as well as a facility for sustainable ammonia production are planned to be constructed at KIZAD in Abu Dhabi, UAE, based... Read more →

Mitsui OSK Lines has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a joint study to build a supply chain of renewable energy-derived ammonia (green ammonia) with Australian energy company Origin Energy. Origin is pursuing a number of green ammonia and hydrogen projects, including a green ammonia export project in Bell... Read more →

Mitsui & Co., Inc., one of the leading ammonia marketers in the world, and CF Industries Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest producer of ammonia, announced a memorandum of understanding that will guide the companies in a joint exploration of the development of blue ammonia projects in the United States. CF... Read more →

Itochu Corporation and Irkutsk Oil Company (IOC); Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC); and Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO) have agreed to undertake a detailed study for the commercialization of a blue ammonia value chain between Eastern Siberia and Japan. This study will be Phase 2, following Phase 1... Read more →

Nutrien, the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services, and EXMAR, a provider of floating solutions for the operation, transportation and transformation of gas, will jointly develop and build a low-carbon, ammonia-fueled vessel. Partners for more than three decades in transporting ammonia globally, Nutrien is one of the world’s... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä is investigating the adoption of hydrogen and ammonia as viable engine fuels through advanced testing in Wärtsilä’s fuel-flexible combustion engines. Hydrogen and ammonia contain no carbon; hence, combustion releases no CO2 emissions. Full-scale engine tests have been recently carried out in Wärtsilä’s engine laboratory in Vaasa,... Read more →

Crude oil tanker company Euronav NV announced a Joint Development Program (JDP) with the largest shipbuilder in the world, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and classification societies Lloyd’s Register and DNV, to help accelerate the development of dual fuel Ammonia (NH3) fitted VLCC and Suezmax vessels. The initial term of the... Read more →

The Danish Energy Agency’s Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP) has awarded 81 million DKK (app. €11 million) to the green ammonia project managed by the three partners Skovgaard Invest, Vestas, and Haldor Topsoe. The project aims at building a 10 MW green ammonia plant directly coupled to... Read more →

Trafigura Pte Ltd, one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading companies, and Yara International ASA, a leading global ammonia player, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the development and promotion of the use of ammonia as a clean fuel in shipping and to explore possible opportunities to... Read more →

In Japan, JERA and IHI Corporation will conduct a demonstration project under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s “Development of Technologies for Carbon Recycling and Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation / Research, Development and Demonstration of Technologies for Ammonia Co-Firing Thermal Power Generation” program. This will be the world’s... Read more →

Cummins Inc. and KBR signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on offering a complete and integrated solution to produce ammonia from renewable sources: green ammonia. Cummins, with its proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis to generate hydrogen, and KBR, with its ammonia technologies, have committed to explore the benefits... Read more →

Topsoe and the leading Russian chemical company Shchekinoazot have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to synchronize vison and plans on developing blue and green methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen production and reducing CO2 emissions. The two companies agreed to inform each other on latest technological developments and jointly explore opportunities... Read more →

thyssenkrupp has signed a contract with Illinois-based CF Industries to supply a 20 megawatt alkaline water electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen at their Donaldsonville, Louisiana, manufacturing complex. The work is expected to begin in the second half of 2021 and finish in 2023. thyssenkrupp 20MW electrolyzer CF Industries will... Read more →

Under the name “Green Wilhelmshaven,” Germany-based international energy company Uniper plans to establish a German national hub for hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven and is working on a corresponding feasibility study. Plans include an import terminal for green ammonia. The terminal will be equipped with an ammonia cracker for producing green hydrogen... Read more →

Australia-based Fortescue Metals Group, one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore, recently revised its emissions reduction goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030—10 years earlier than its previous target. Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortescue, will be a key enabler of this target through the... Read more →

Starfire Energy, a Colorado-based developer of modular chemical plants for the carbon-free production of ammonia and hydrogen, has closed a major funding round. The investment round was led by AP Ventures, a significant investor in breakthrough hydrogen technologies, and included New Energy Technologies, Chevron Technology Ventures, Osaka Gas USA, and... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions has begun the ‘AmmoniaMot’ project. Initiated by MAN with partners from industry and research institutes, it aims to define the steps necessary to produce a dual-fuel, medium-speed engine capable of running on diesel-fuel and ammonia. Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), and... Read more →

Ammonia has recently emerged as a liquid storage and transport medium that has shown promising stability for long-distance hydrogen transport. At 108 kg H2/m3, liquefied ammonia (NH3) can store 50% more hydrogen than liquid hydrogen. When ammonia is decomposed at high temperatures, only hydrogen and nitrogen gases are produced, with... Read more →

Haldor Topsoe and Nel ASA have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the intent to offer customers complete solution for green ammonia and methanol produced with renewable electricity. The solutions will be based on Nel’s alkaline and PEM electrolysis technologies in combination with proven ammonia and methanol technologies from... Read more →

Aquamarine is developing a large-scale green ammonia facility to be constructed in multiple stages. In the first stage of the project, the proposed facility will use Haldor Topsoe’s proprietary solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) (earlier post) to produce green hydrogen from 100 MW of renewable electricity. The hydrogen will be... Read more →

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has awarded an Approval in Principle to EXMAR for its ammonia (NH3)-fueled 40,000 m3 Midsize Gas Carrier, a significant milestone for the progression of alternative fuels in shipping. Jiangnan Shipyard was responsible for the ship design while Wärtsilä Gas Solutions provided all input for the ammonia fuel... Read more →

The EU should promote the use of green hydrogen and ammonia by ships as part of its upcoming maritime fuel law, major shipping industry players and environmentalists have told the European Commission. The FuelEU Maritime initiative will require ships carrying EU trade to progressively switch to sustainable alternative fuels. In... Read more →

Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OCI N.V. (OCI) and MAN Energy Solutions (MAN) to develop methanol and ammonia as marine fuels to support industry-wide decarbonization and environmental preservation efforts. The partnership involves using select conventional vessels from EPS’ existing tanker fleet that use MAN... Read more →

Little more than a year after a Joint Development Project (JDP) to develop an ammonia-fueled tanker design was launched by LR, MISC Berhad, MAN Energy Solutions and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), the partners have been joined by Yara International ASA, a giant Norwegian chemicals company and major ammonia producer, and... Read more →

RINA, a global classification society, and the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) have signed a Joint Development Project Agreement to develop a ship design capable of being fueled by either ammonia or methanol. Within the Agreement, SDARI will focus on the ship concept development and design while... Read more →

Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney and University of Sydney have developed a hybrid plasma electrocatalytic process for the production of sustainable (“green”) ammonia. The method makes green ammonia from air, water and renewable electricity and does not require the high temperatures, high pressure and huge infrastructure currently needed to produce... Read more →

Alfa Laval, DTU Energy, Haldor Topsoe, Svitzer and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping are entering into a joint project to accelerate the development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. Funded by a grant from Danish EUDP (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program), the partners will... Read more →

Toyo Engineering Corporation and　Irkutsk Oil Company (IOC), Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), and Itochu Corporation are partnering on a joint feasibility study of a blue ammonia value chain between eastern Siberia and Japan. The project aims to establish a future blue ammonia value chain at a commercial... Read more →

Saga Pure ASA, an investment company focusing on opportunities within renewable energy, hydrogen, circular economy and CO2 reductions, has invested NOK 35 million (US$4.1 million) in a gross NOK 150-million (US$17.6-million) private placement of new shares in Horisont Energi AS, corresponding to an ownership of 11.7% in Horisont Energi. Horisont... Read more →

Leading fertilizer company Yara plans to electrify fully its ammonia plant in Porsgrunn, Norway with the potential to cut 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to the emissions from 300,000 passenger cars. Production from the electrified ammonia unit would be some 500,000 tonnes per year of green ammonia. Ammonia... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä and Grieg Edge, the innovation hub of Norwegian shipping group Grieg Star, are jointly running a project to launch an ammonia-fueled tanker producing no greenhouse gas emissions by 2024. The MS Green Ammonia project is the result of a Nordic industrial collaboration group founded from the... Read more →

CF Industries’ Board of Directors has approved a green ammonia project at the company’s flagship Donaldsonville Nitrogen Complex to produce approximately 20,000 tons per year of green ammonia. CF Industries is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for clean energy, emissions abatement, fertilizer, and other industrial applications.... Read more →

Transport Canada has awarded a contract to Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, to develop an assessment tool to examine clean technologies that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the release of other pollutants from marine vessels. The objective of the project is to use... Read more →

Researchers at Northwestern University, with colleagues from SAFCell, Inc, have demonstrated the production of high-purity hydrogen by thermal-electrochemical decomposition of ammonia at an intermediate temperature of 250 ˚C. A paper on their work is published in the journal Joule. The process is enabled by use of a solid-acid-based electrochemical cell... Read more →

A team from KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp in Belgium has developed a new process that is suitable for the distributed, small-scale production of “green” ammonia. The process, called PNOCRA (Plasma Nitrogen Oxidation and Catalytic Reduction to Ammonia), combines plasma‐assisted nitrogen oxidation and lean NOx trap technology, adopted... Read more →

Reaction Engines recently completed a joint Proof-of-Concept study with the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to determine whether the company’s innovative thermal management technology could be combined with STFC’s catalysts to create an aviation system based on ammonia fuel. In recent years, ammonia has been considered by various... Read more →

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a steam-carrier-adopted composite membrane reactor system to produce pure H2 (>99.99%) from ammonia with high productivity (>0.35 mol-H2 gcat−1 h−1) and ammonia conversion (>99%) at a significantly reduced operating temperature (<723 K). A paper on their work is... Read more →

NYK Line, Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU), and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) signed a joint R&D agreement for the commercialization of an ammonia-fueled ammonia gas carrier (AFAGC) that would use ammonia as the main fuel, in addition to an ammonia floating storage and regasification barge (A-FSRB). Ammonia-fueled Ammonia Gas Carrier... Read more →

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Gas Technology Institute (GTI) are embarking on a five-year initiative to accelerate the development and demonstration of low-carbon energy technologies. With increasingly ambitious decarbonization goals from private companies and governments alike, existing technology is not enough to achieve those targets. The Low-Carbon Resources... Read more →

In a review paper published in the journal ChemSusChem, researchers from Australia’s CSIRO conclude that the combination of synthetic biology and materials chemistry will provide many viable options to allow the use of nitrogenase for energy applications, such as the production of green ammonia for use as a preferred liquid... Read more →

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, has been given the green light for its ammonia-propelled ships from Lloyd’s Register. Hyundai Mipo Dockyard intends to commercialize the ammonia-propelled ships by 2025 in cooperation with global engine maker MAN Energy Solutions and Lloyd’s Register. Ammonia has been attracting attention... Read more →