Ammonia and its Future Use in Clean Energy
Ammonia has big potential in the world of energy, currently as discussed in past posts its main usage is in the agricultural industry which accounts for around 80% of ammonia usage. Researchers and scientists are realizing new potential for ammonia in both the short- and long-term energy storage using ammonia. With one large drawback being that currently the production of ammonia is adding to our global carbon footprint, with about 2% of all carbon emissions being used in the ammonia creation process. Once ammonia is decarbonized “not made with fossil fuel” the world will finally have a source of truly clean energy.
With these innovations researchers are already looking at all the potentials decarbonized ammonia, with its relatively high energy storage density of 3kWH/liter, ammonia has capacity to replace gasoline or diesel, they say, in combustion or as something that reacts powerfully with oxygen. This means that large fuel-efficient engines such as cargo ships can be made to run on ammonia.
Ammonia could also be used as a helper in other green energy setups by storing thermal or chemical energy. In fact, ammonia’s reactivity with air and its chemical makeup mean it could solve problems that are obstructing development of solar hydrogen.
There is another problem with potentially using ammonia in the energy sector. The social stigma for many reasons, the past carbon footprint that ammonia has created could make others skeptical of the future of ammonia. Lastly and potentially the biggest hurdle would be getting over that ammonia is dangerous when not handled correctly. If the world can get over these stigmas and innovate in the process of ammonia creation and handling the world has a bright future in truly clean energy.
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