On a tributary of the Hudson River, a tugboat powered by ammonia eased away from the shipyard dock and sailed for the first time to show how the maritime industry can slash planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

The tugboat used to run on diesel fuel. The New York-based startup company Amogy bought the 67-year-old ship to switch it to cleanly-made ammonia, a new, carbon-free fuel.

They named the tugboat NH3 Kraken, after the chemical formula for ammonia and their method of “cracking” it into hydrogen and nitrogen. Amogy’s system uses ammonia to make hydrogen for a fuel cell, making the tug an electric-powered ship. The International Maritime Organization set a target for international shipping to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by, or close to, 2050.

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    48
    ·
    1 month ago

    For those looking (like me) for the catch:

    Ammonia does have drawbacks. It’s toxic. Nearly all of it currently is made from natural gas in a process that is harmful for the climate. And burning it has to be engineered carefully or it, too, yields traces of a powerful greenhouse gas.

    • cogitase@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      1 month ago

      If you have solar paired with proton exchange membrane electrolysis, you can generate hydrogen very economically. PEM electrolyzers are already around 80% efficient but supply is limited right now. Hydrogen is a pain to store, but if you feed that hydrogen into the Haber-Bosch process you can very efficiently produce ammonia. Ammonia fuel cells are very promising if you’re looking to decarbonize container shipping.

        • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          edit-2
          1 month ago

          In terms of vapor pressure, ammonia behaves a lot like propane. You can store it pretty much like propane, liquified under pressure, but it has less energy density and high heat of evaporation so it’s best to withdraw it as liquid to not freeze out container

    • MyOpinion@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      This is the trick. It will be cheaper to make it from natural gas so that is how it will be made.

    • ravhall@discuss.online
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 month ago

      So you’re saying when the boat eventually crashes and all the ammonia is dumped into the sea, that’s probably gonna be bad?

      • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        1 month ago

        It can be produced in a renewable manner even if it currently usually isn’t (though it is a net consumer of energy to create it that way, so it’s more like a sort of battery when used that way than an energy source), so if the downsides can be worked around and the economics worked out (a difficult proposition I expect given hydrogen is in a similar position and all the issues that one has) it has potential to work as a renewable vehicle fuel.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 month ago

        Eh, I think it’s ok that they’re trying something, even if I doubt it will work out.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    1 month ago

    We used to have home refrigerators kept cold by ammonia. There’s a reason we don’t use those anymore.