Amogy and Trafigura announced an agreement to study the use of ammonia as a carrier to transport clean hydrogen from point of production to point of consumption.
The findings of this joint research on ammonia cracking will help support industry-wide efforts to decarbonize transport and heavy industrial processes and lower carbon emissions to meet global climate goals.
Amogy and Trafigura will initiate a joint research effort tasked with identifying and assessing scenarios in which ammonia cracking technology can be deployed to support the growing hydrogen market, starting with Europe which is targeting 20 million tonnes of hydrogen consumption by 2030.
Using economic models and energy demand forecasts, the two companies will determine the viability and cost effectiveness of industrial scale ammonia crackers.
We believe ammonia cracking will be a key enabling technology for the large scale uptake of clean hydrogen. Our work with Amogy will help us understand the economics of this supply chain, to deliver the most competitive low carbon hydrogen to our customers
said Margaux Moore, Head of Energy Transition Research at Trafigura.
According to Seonghoon Woo is the CEO of Amogy, ammonia, which doesn’t have any carbon molecules, has tremendous potential as a zero-emission renewable fuel because it can effectively carry hydrogen, which faces challenges around storage and transportation, to a fuel cell.
Because ammonia has been used in the farming industry as a fertilizer for many years, there is already existing infrastructure, including an ammonia pipeline, for its production and transportation, which advances the chemical’s potential as a renewable fuel
Furthermore, he said that ammonia is easily stored as a liquid, which reduces the cost, complexity, and space requirements for storage compared with hydrogen and liquefied natural gas.
Recently, Amogy received Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register, in certifying its ammonia-to-power system for maritime applications, which will be demonstrated for the first time in a maritime vessel in 2023.
The AiP covers an ammonia power system that generates electricity from liquid ammonia to power maritime vessels. This is achieved by cracking the liquid ammonia to hydrogen, and using the produced hydrogen to generate electrical power through proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.
