* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment

    Unveiling the Enigmatic: First Looks at Destruction and Puck in ‘The Sandman

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Mavs CEO holds firm on new arena, entertainment district in Dallas – Dallas News

    Mavs CEO Stands Strong on Vision for New Arena and Entertainment District in Dallas

    Entertainment: On Your Marks, Get Set, Beer Run! – Urban Milwaukee

    Get Ready to Race: The Ultimate Beer Run Experience Awaits!

    Rachel Guttman Launches Entertainment Law Firm Gutt Law, PLLC [Exclusive] – MusicRow.com

    Rachel Guttman Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Law Firm: Gutt Law, PLLC!

    HYBE Cashes In: Offloads Final Stake in K-Pop Rival SM Entertainment for $177 Million!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Bajeed Pattan Joins Forbes Technology Council as Innovation Leader – PRWeb

    Bajeed Pattan Takes the Helm as Innovation Leader at Forbes Technology Council!

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Drone technology demo in Cambria County showcases future of lifesaving medical deliveries – local21news.com

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: Drone Technology Takes Flight for Lifesaving Medical Deliveries in Cambria County

    Revolutionary Harvesting Technology Promises to Slash CAR-T Manufacturing Costs!

    Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism – International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – ICCT

    Unplugged: The Surge of Anti-Technology Extremism

    Finland to head EU’s quantum defense technology project – Latest news from Azerbaijan

    Finland Takes the Lead in Pioneering EU’s Quantum Defense Technology Initiative!

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment

    Unveiling the Enigmatic: First Looks at Destruction and Puck in ‘The Sandman

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Mavs CEO holds firm on new arena, entertainment district in Dallas – Dallas News

    Mavs CEO Stands Strong on Vision for New Arena and Entertainment District in Dallas

    Entertainment: On Your Marks, Get Set, Beer Run! – Urban Milwaukee

    Get Ready to Race: The Ultimate Beer Run Experience Awaits!

    Rachel Guttman Launches Entertainment Law Firm Gutt Law, PLLC [Exclusive] – MusicRow.com

    Rachel Guttman Unveils Exciting New Entertainment Law Firm: Gutt Law, PLLC!

    HYBE Cashes In: Offloads Final Stake in K-Pop Rival SM Entertainment for $177 Million!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Bajeed Pattan Joins Forbes Technology Council as Innovation Leader – PRWeb

    Bajeed Pattan Takes the Helm as Innovation Leader at Forbes Technology Council!

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Drone technology demo in Cambria County showcases future of lifesaving medical deliveries – local21news.com

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: Drone Technology Takes Flight for Lifesaving Medical Deliveries in Cambria County

    Revolutionary Harvesting Technology Promises to Slash CAR-T Manufacturing Costs!

    Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism – International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – ICCT

    Unplugged: The Surge of Anti-Technology Extremism

    Finland to head EU’s quantum defense technology project – Latest news from Azerbaijan

    Finland Takes the Lead in Pioneering EU’s Quantum Defense Technology Initiative!

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Chemists Chase ‘Clean’ Ammonia to Replace Shipping Fuel

May 20, 2024
in Science
Chemists Chase ‘Clean’ Ammonia to Replace Shipping Fuel
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

CLIMATEWIRE | The stinky ammonia under your sink comes from one of the world’s dirtiest industries. That might change with the help of President Joe Biden’s climate law.

Ammonia production is a carbon-intensive process that uses fossil fuels to make the pungent-smelling chemical, which is often used to make fertilizers. But some companies think it could also as a carbon-free fuel for cargo ships or to generate electricity.

Its climate stakes are massive. But so is its potential for clean energy — because it doesn’t release any carbon emissions at the point of use.

On supporting science journalism

If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

A Danish company named Topsoe is planning to build a factory in Virginia that will produce electrolyzers, a device that can make clean hydrogen when powered by solar or wind energy. The electrolyzers will be installed at a new plant in Texas that plans to use the hydrogen to make “green ammonia,” which will be sold to a German power company. The Inflation Reduction Act is driving the investments for both facilities by offering billions of dollars through advanced energy programs.

Ammonia production accounts for roughly 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That alone could make the greening of ammonia a massive climate prize. But some experts see bigger solutions: In addition to decarbonizing ammonia for fertilizer, it could also be used to nearly eliminate emissions from oceangoing cargo ships and to replace natural gas and coal in electricity generation.

“We are seeing remarkable progress on these things,” said Julio Friedmann, an expert on green ammonia and chief scientist at Carbon Direct, which advises companies about reducing their emissions. “Fundamentally, companies and governments are taking this stuff very seriously. It is across the board.”

The Inflation Reduction Act, with its $370 billion in climate funding, has put the U.S. on the front lines of cleaning up the ammonia industry. A New York-based startup called First Ammonia initially planned on building its first green ammonia plant in Europe. But it changed course after Russia invaded Ukraine and Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, in 2022.

The company settled on Texas for its first facility, thanks to the state’s abundance of renewable energy and its industrial infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico. It’s set to break ground at the Port of Victoria later this year on a plant that can produce 300,000 tons of ammonia annually. The company announced a partnership last year to sell ammonia to Uniper, a German power company.

The operation has been made possible in large part due to the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits.

“It significantly reduces the price point at which we need to sell our ammonia to be able to be productive,” said First Ammonia CEO Joel Moser in an interview. “So it’s a huge step.”

The company sees maritime shipping and electricity generation as growth markets for ammonia, fueling cargo ships and supplementing wind and solar in the power sector.

“That’s an ideal future, a future where we’ve electrified all that we can and the things we can’t we’re using hydrogen application, specifically ammonia,” Moser said.

Roughly 180 million tons of ammonia is sold globally every year for more than $100 billion. About 70 percent of it is used for fertilizers, according to the International Energy Agency.

‘A big pivot’

Ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, is historically carbon intensive, and the production of hydrogen is particularly dirty. It relies on using natural gas or coal and accounts for more than 90 percent of the emissions associated with ammonia production, according to a 2022 paper by the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum. By the IEA’s estimate, ammonia production is about two times as emission intensive as producing crude steel.

Green hydrogen has emerged as a key to cleaning up ammonia. Electricity is used to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. If wind or solar technologies are used to supply that power, it is considered “green” hydrogen. It has a variety of potential uses, but ammonia production is among the most promising. The consulting firm Wood Mackenzie estimates that roughly 39 percent of announced green hydrogen projects globally would be used to make ammonia, though the firm thinks many of those projects won’t be built.

That is where Topsoe, the Danish industrial company, comes in. While not a household name in the U.S., Topsoe is a major player in the chemical industry. The company estimates that a third of global ammonia is made using its technologies. Nearly all of that was traditionally done by using fossil fuels.

But the company is starting to pivot. Armed with a $136 million Inflation Reduction Act tax credit from the Energy Department, Topsoe is planning to build a $400 million electrolyzer factory in Chesterfield, Virginia. Its plans are subject to completing a DOE certification process that can take up to two years. First Ammonia is the company’s first customer.

The move to build electrolyzers is a part of a wider shift for Topsoe. Cleaner technologies like biodiesel now account for about a fifth of its revenue, up from nothing four years ago, said Topsoe CEO Roeland Baan. The company is also building a second electrolyzer facility in Denmark.

“We have this enormous portfolio of products and technologies that are useful for the energy transition, and so we decided to make a big pivot,” Baan said in an interview. “And we set our vision to be recognized as a leader in decarbonization technologies.”

All-purpose ammonia

Green ammonia producers have several factors working in their favor. A global network of ports, ships and pipelines already exist to ship ammonia. The gas is considered a clean fuel because it lacks carbon molecules.

Japan has committed to using green ammonia to help decarbonize its power sector by co-blending it with coal. The government hopes to reach 100 percent ammonia electricity generation by midcentury. The move has encountered resistance from environmental groups, which say using ammonia could extend the life of coal plants.

An even bigger prize may be the marine shipping industry, which releases 2 percent of global emissions. Shipping companies are experimenting with new vessels that burn a blend of diesel and ammonia. Maersk, the international shipping giant, recently ordered four ammonia-fueled vessels with the potential to buy six more. Trafigura, another large shipper, recently ordered six ships.

But hurdles remain. Ammonia has a high ignition temperature; that’s one reason it is often blended with another fuel. It is also corrosive. Green ammonia remains more expensive to produce than its fossil fuel-made counterparts. And while burning ammonia doesn’t emit carbon dioxide, controls are needed to curtail emissions of another air pollutant, nitrogen oxide.

Current and former Biden administration officials said the tax credits awarded to Topsoe reflect a shift in the government’s approach on those issues. DOE has long supported early stage technological research. But the department under Biden is providing additional assistance to companies that are trying to make the jump from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Topsoe was one of 35 projects that received $1.93 billion in tax credits under DOE’s Advanced Energy Project Credit. The credits are part of a multifaceted approach, said Costa Samaras, a former Biden administration official who now leads the Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University.

The credits to Topsoe are aimed at reducing the price of building a manufacturing facility, like the company’s electrolyzer plant. Other sources of Inflation Reduction Act money are available to companies like First Ammonia through the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit, to help stimulate demand for climate-friendly products.

“We’re now on this glide path to net-zero in 25 ½ years,” Samaras said. “So we need the types of clean manufacturing supply chain to deliver the speed and scale of clean equipment, so that we’re realizing the emissions reductions within the time frame that we have.”

Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Scientific American – https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chemists-chase-clean-ammonia-to-replace-shipping-fuel/

Tags: ChaseChemistsscience
Previous Post

The Strongest Solar Storm in 20 Years Did Little Damage, but Worse Space Weather Is Coming

Next Post

Bird Flu Makes Raw Milk Riskier and Geomagnetic Storms Cause Colorful Skies

Some birds are left behind in a race to beat the heat – Nature

Some birds are left behind in a race to beat the heat – Nature

June 1, 2025
A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit – Science News

A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit – Science News

June 1, 2025
John Hancock Multimanager Lifestyle Moderate Portfolio Q1 2025 Commentary (JALMX) – Seeking Alpha

Unlocking Potential: Insights from the John Hancock Multimanager Lifestyle Moderate Portfolio Q1 2025

June 1, 2025
Editorial: The world promised by AI isn’t necessarily a better one – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Editorial: The world promised by AI isn’t necessarily a better one – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

June 1, 2025
Little Rock economy growing faster than other similarly-sized cities, study shows – thv11.com

Little Rock’s Economy Outpaces Peers: A Promising Growth Story!

June 1, 2025

Unveiling the Enigmatic: First Looks at Destruction and Puck in ‘The Sandman

June 1, 2025
Why Gen Z Will Demand Crypto-Enabled Health Systems – Forbes

How Gen Z is Shaping the Future of Crypto-Enabled Health Systems

June 1, 2025
State Sen. Skoufis declares war on en­ter­tainment ticketing practices in closing days of session – Spectrum News

State Senator Skoufis Takes a Stand Against Unfair Ticketing Practices in Final Session Push!

June 1, 2025
Bajeed Pattan Joins Forbes Technology Council as Innovation Leader – PRWeb

Bajeed Pattan Takes the Helm as Innovation Leader at Forbes Technology Council!

June 1, 2025
With college sports in limbo and key issues coming to a head, the spotlight is on the SEC: ‘It’s going to get heated’ – Yahoo Sports

SEC Showdown: Tensions Rise as College Sports Face Uncertain Future

June 1, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (656)
  • Economy (671)
  • Entertainment (21,577)
  • General (15,254)
  • Health (9,713)
  • Lifestyle (673)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (672)
  • Politics (679)
  • Science (15,891)
  • Sports (21,175)
  • Technology (15,658)
  • World (659)

Recent News

Some birds are left behind in a race to beat the heat – Nature

Some birds are left behind in a race to beat the heat – Nature

June 1, 2025
A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit – Science News

A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit – Science News

June 1, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version