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:
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.
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