How the shipping industry is betting on ammonia as part of a cleaner energy mix

It’s versatile and abundant and you can store and transport it. Ammonia is seen by many as a future source of clean energy for the maritime industry. But for ammonia-fuelled shipping to become a reality, more work needs to be done.

The shipping industry is responsible for about 3% of global CO2 emissions.

A report from the IEA says that to hit zero emissions by 2050, hydrogen-based fuels - including ammonia - should account for 30% of maritime fuel.

There is no silver bullet for zero-carbon marine fuels, but ammonia is easier to store than its green fuel competitor hydrogen - it is also a safer way to transport hydrogen itself.

Japanese shipping and logistics company NYK Lines and IHI Power Systems are developing the world’s first tugboat that runs on ammonia.

"We have to achieve net zero by 2050," says Yokoyama Tsutomu, Senior General Manager at NYK Line's Green Business Group. "We have to eliminate greenhouse gas. Ammonia is the most advantageous solution because firstly it is zero emission and does not emit greenhouse gas and we already have some experience in transporting ammonia."

There are significant design challenges with ammonia as it is toxic to humans and aquatic life, but NYK is working to mitigate these concerns.

"Safety is our most important and fundamental top priority item," says Mr Yokoyama. "Currently what we are doing is, a physical assessment is in process which is held with Japanese governmental body, the Japanese coastguard. We are identifying the possible risk and also delivering the solution as well."

Made from hydrogen and nitrogen, ammonia is already widely used as a fertiliser and in cleaning products but the production process at the moment is far from clean.

Cleaning up the ammonia production process