Blue and green ammonia will become an important alternative fuel for the global shipping industry, if production can be scaled up and costs reduced.
Green and blue ammonia will help the shipping industry achieve its committed goal for decarbonisation by 2050, but grey ammonia, produced using fossil fuels, is out of scope.
The US$70Bn+ global ammonia market has been traditionally fuelled by agrochemicals, but that is set to change over the next 10-20 years, as shipping demand is predicted to grow sharply.
This was one of the key conclusions from the presentations and panel debates at the Ammonia Energy Association Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, US; an event followed swiftly by another European Ammonia Conference hosted by Argus Media in Hamburg, Germany.
Opinions of delegates differed on blue ammonia, which couples blue hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming (SMR) with carbon capture and storage (CCS) to achieve 90%+ emissions reductions.
Many believe that blue ammonia will have cost advantages, as the CO2 capture process can be retrofitted onto grey ammonia plants at less capex per tonne.
Read all