Renewable ammonia: The future of fuels?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ammonia can be used to fuel relatively traditional internal combustion engines, with minor modifications similar to those involved in converting a gasoline engine to use liquified petroleum gas. And like hydrogen, ammonia has great potential as a no-carbon-emissions alternative to fossil fuels. In principle, the main product of burning ammonia in an engine is nitrogen, a gas that constitutes some 78 percent of the atmosphere and is, in itself, not a greenhouse gas. But ammonia is easier to handle and transport in bulk than hydrogen. Promising technologies for increased ammonia production using renewable energy are being researched, and if production expands, ammonia could make its place – and perhaps a leading place – as an easily transported fuel for use in the effort to decarbonize transportation around the world.