When we think about the different factors contributing to high amounts of CO2 in our environment, it is easy to point fingers at cars and factories.  While these play a large role, another significant factor is maritime shipping.  Thankfully, there is hope for reducing such pollution.  A recent study supported by the European Climate Foundation determined that, with a few changes, international shipping’s CO2 emissions could be 82% less than what is currently projected for 2035. Put in perspective, this level of reduction is equivalent to the annual emissions of 185 coal-fired power plants.  So what changes could lead to such a drastic decrease?

• Alternative fuels (ammonia, hydrogen, methanol) and renewable energy
• Technological measures to ensure ships are as energy efficient as possible
• Operational improvements, including slower ship speeds and larger/more efficient ships

Experts say that reaching this “zero-carbon shipping” is only feasible with support and incentives from the government.  The study specifically suggests that there be clear and timeline-driven goals, policy measures to back up the changes, and financial incentives.  Overall, this seems feasible—decarbonizing maritime shipping appears to be a matter of “when”, not “if.”

ITF report finds it possible to decarbonize maritime transport by 2035 - Green Car Congress

As we get closer to the 2050 deadline of decarbonizing our economy, research into alternatives to fossil fuel-based energy are increasing.  Once again, ammonia (NH3) is in the forefront of this research—and is continuing to prove promising.  A study coordinated by the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT) investigated three NH3 questions: Under what conditions can NH3 be...

1. produced using renewable electricity
2. used to store electricity?
3. used as a CO2-neutral fuel for a power plant?

The first portion of research determined that producing NH3 from renewable sources, like solar and wind, is indeed feasible.  The article also claims this the only way to make NH3’s carbon footprint zero.  Though it is rather expensive right now, upcoming changes to the electricity system related to decarbonization (lower investment cost, increased supply of renewable energy, global increase in CO2 price) will make it more competitive.

The second portion of research concluded that NH3 is best for storage in a renewable-based electricity system.  NH3 is able to store energy without the concern of limited materials and space largely due to its caloric nature and ability to be produced simply from splitting water (which in turn combines with nitrogen present in air).

The third portion of research investigated the Nuon Magnum power station, and concluded the potential reduction of CO2-emissions by 3.5 mton/yr with base load producing 10 TWh of electricity.  NH3 is effectively a CO2-neutral fuel when it’s cracked into hydrogen and nitrogen prior to the hydrogen combusting in a gas turbine and has an evident impact in large scale application marketing (5-10 years).

“Power-to-ammonia enables both storage and import and has the potential to contribute substantially to CO2 reduction targets, offering flexibility for the electricity system and allowing for an alternative to investments in electricity grid infrastructure.”

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has had its researchers investigating how to separate high-purity hydrogen from a variety of mixed gases over the years.  Recently they have joined much of the energy community in noting the beneficial H2 storage capacity of NH3 (remember, it can store H2 in 17.6% of its molecular weight!).  CSIRO’s most recent and innovative contribution is the development of a thin metal membrane that can separate H2 from NH3 used as a H2 carrier.  Green Car Congress has summarized their process and use of the membrane as follows:

“The renewable hydrogen would first be converted to ammonia (in combination with nitrogen produced in a renewables-driven air separation unit), then be exported piggybacking on the existing transport infrastructure for ammonia, and finally be extracted from the ammonia using the membrane system…”

CSIRO hopes to use this new technology in a variety of applications, noting particularly its potential for use in vehicles.  With regards to the latter, this membrane technology has the potential to be used modularly and thus the ability to be a component of refueling stations. 

The organization is now in the early steps of a two-year project that aims show the potential of their membrane in a hydrogen production system.  They have a goal of obtaining at least 5 kg/day of hydrogen directly—all from ammonia directly.  Wow!
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As might be expected there is widespread support for their technology and its implementation, with a recent grant of $1.7 million from SIEF and positive feedback from BOC, Hyundai, Toyota, and Renewable Hydrogen Pty Ltd.  While no one can know the future of energy, it appears that everything is coming up ammonia.

Rural Africa and other areas historically “off the grid” skipped over the landline telephone and moved into mobile phone technology.  Steve Hodgson, a Contributing Editor at Decentralized Energy, has suggested in a recent article that this innovative model might be in action again—and this time it’s with energy.

US-based companies such as Capstone and Aggreko have recently been manufacturing and distributing units for decentralized power in Mali and Eritrea, respectively, and expect that other communities in West Africa and around the globe will soon follow suit.  Why wouldn’t they, when the Capstone turbine (butane-based) provided to Mali produces enough electrical power to independently support a small community?  Furthermore, Aggreko’s solar-diesel power generators provided to mines in Eritrea will, over a 10-year period of installation, generate capacity with efficiency and remote monitoring.  In fact, according to Aggreko this type of decentralized power is particularly promising because it can be the cheapest and most reliable method for all mines, not just those off the grid.

Government authorities and agencies also show support of decentralized power.  For example, Kenya’s Rural Electrification Authority has pledged $2 billion to 450 new mini-grids powered by solar and other renewables “as part of a project to bring power to off-grid parts of the country.”  Additionally, USAID has promised $4 million of funding to off-grid solar projects in sub-Saharan Africa, with the hopes that it will allow the local developers’ projects to move from the planning stage to the action stage.
Hodgon’s conclusion is particularly intriguing:

Decentralized energy has been identified as one of the most important ways to meet the United Nations goal of ending energy poverty by 2030 – only local energy initiatives can reach the rural poor cost-effectively and in a hurry. Diesel-solar hybrid schemes may not be green enough for some, but decentralized generation is the best way to take power to the rural poor and to remote businesses in Africa.

Indeed, it appears that some of the greatest energy innovation is taking place in Africa.  The rest of the world could benefit from looking to these leaders and considering a decentralized approach to energy.
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Of the 10 themes in the Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), one of particular interest to AHEAD is “Energy Carriers” and currently being explored in Japan.  This SIP project aims to develop a realized version of the fantasy that is a hydrogen society, thus reducing CO2 emissions.  As described in a recent SIP publication, “‘[E]nergy carriers’ is the method to efficiently store and transport hydrogen as liquid.”  Such storage and transportation is important due to that in its normal, gaseous state, H2 is dangerous and difficult to handle. 

So why Japan?  Isn’t reducing CO2 emissions a global issue?  Absolutely.  However, Japan is poor in energy resources and needs a low-carbon society to successfully move forward and ultimately become a leader in energy.  They, like many, see the great promise of hydrogen energy and hope that this SIP program allows them to research and overcome the common issues of technology, high cost, and safety with regards to H2. 

Here is their succinct vision: “Realize the world’s first new type low carbon society utilizing hydrogen in Japan by 2030 and be a role model in the world.”  Plus, among the several goals spread out between 2015 and 2030, the Program Director of Energy Carriers especially notes:

“I would like to demonstrate the hydrogen technologies developed for production, transportation, storage and utilization as tangible results at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games…It is not only a demonstration as a showcase but also aims to be a big first step toward hydrogen society in Japan…I have a confidence that hydrogen energy would contribute to the attractive urban development.”
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Good work so far, Energy Carriers!  Attached is the full publication released by SIP on this project.

​He, T., Pei, Q., & Chen, P. (2015). Liquid organic hydrogen carriers. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 24(5), 587–594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2015.08.007

Hydrogen Production from Ammonia for Next Generation Carbon-Free Energy Technologies. (2017, May 5). Retrieved May 9, 2017, from http://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=656

Kariya, N., Fukuoka, A., & Ichikawa, M. (2002). Efficient evolution of hydrogen from liquid cycloalkanes over Pt-containing catalysts supported on active carbons under “wet–dry multiphase conditions.” Applied Catalysis A: General, 233(1–2), 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-860X(02)00139-4

Wang, W., Herreros, J. M., Tsolakis, A., & York, A. P. E. (2013). Ammonia as hydrogen carrier for transportation; investigation of the ammonia exhaust gas fuel reforming. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(23), 9907–9917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.05.144

Yolcular, S., & Olgun, Ö. (2008). Ni/Al2O3 catalysts and their activity in dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane for hydrogen production. Catalysis Today, 138(3–4), 198–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2008.07.020

Cedric Philibert, a Senior Energy Analyst at IEA, has been using an argument centered on electrolyzer capex to call for renewable H2.  In an article last month he came to the conclusion that utilization rates must be high for the projects to be competitive, pointing to ammonia production as key:

“Ammonia could be used on its own as a carbon-free fuel or as an energy carrier to store and transport energy conveniently. Hydrogen could also be used as a process agent in CO2 emissions-free steelmaking.
The market for climate-friendly hydrogen generating technologies can only expand in a world striving to mitigate climate change. SMR [steam methane reforming] with CCS [carbon capture and sequestration] remains an economic option. However, as many countries are considering how to produce synthetic methane or other hydrocarbons from renewable hydrogen – exactly the inverse of SMR – manufacturing ammonia with renewables-based hydrogen is the simplest first step.”

IEA quickly pushed this article to the forefront of its site, suggesting an ever-increasing interest in ammonia and high potential for its use in the near future.  AHEAD is in full support of ammonia production in energy and has the labs ready and available for such production.

On December 15, 2016 the Energy Department's ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) awarded $35 million in funding to 16 projects across the United States under its REFUEL program.  These projects will aim to utilize energy-dense, carbon-neutral liquid fuels to create energy.  Ideally, such energy will be transportable, economical, and reduce our current environmental impact.  More specifically, the groups funded are looking to use surplus renewable electrical energy (low cost) to take water and molecules in the air to produce CNFLs (carbon-neutral liquid fuels).

Interestingly enough, 13 out of the 16 projects that received funding--roughly 80%--have proposed ammonia as their fuel.  This is interesting because, as noted by our Chairman James Grieve, "AHEAD has been pushing the ammonia option for several years, in combination with renewables."  So why is ammonia so important, and why might this be promising for AHEAD?

Ammonia is being targeted due to its classification as both a hydrogen and energy carrier, and thus its ability to become fuel.  Further notable reasons ammonia is considered desirable are that (1) it can be produced from any energy resource, (2) it is less expensive to store than hydrogen on its own (but allows hydrogen utilization), (3) though it requires careful handling, it is easily detectable and has an excellent safety record, and (4) there is already an infrastructure for its worldwide transportation, delivery, and storage. However, the current processes used to produce ammonia are expensive and energy-consuming, and thus only economical on a large-scale.  Therefore, an additional goal of the 13 ammonia-related REFUEL groups is to overcome this.

Here's the exciting part: the labs at Metro Park in Rochester, NY have the capabilities and infrastructure to safely test with ammonia, something these grant recipients will be needing throughout their research and development.  Our labs are available and can even be rented on a lab-by-lab basis.  

ARPA-E's most recent grant giving shows that there is progress being made toward a cleaner and greener world, and AHEAD is ready to help!

Funded Organizations Utilizing Ammonia: Bettergy Corporation|FuelCell Energy, Inc.|Giner, Inc.|Materials and Systems Research, Inc.|Molecule Works, Inc.|RTI International|SAFCell, Inc.|Storagenergy Technologies, Inc.|University of Delaware|University of Minnesota Twin Cities|University of South Carolina|West Virginia University Research Corporation|Wichita State University

Sources:

• Green Car Congress: ARPA-E awards $35M to 16 REFUEL projects for energy-dense carbon-neutral liquid fuels; leveraging ammonia. (2016, December 17). Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/12/20161217-refuel.html#comments
• Cheddie, D. (2012). Ammonia as a hydrogen source for fuel cells: A review. system, 250(10.4), 400.

​Initially seated at the University of Rochester, AHEAD’s new leadership team recently petitioned that 285 Metro Park be donated to the 501(c)(3).  This commercial property in Brighton, NY had been previously leased and used by GM and then Delphi for fuel cell development, prototyping, and testing for more than 20 years.  We are happy to report that this month AHEAD successfully acquired the building! We are now beginning to re-purpose the existing test lab infrastructure to fit our vision.  Attached is the presentation given by our Board requesting that the space be donated.