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International R&D on sustainable ammonia synthesis technologies
Article

International R&D on sustainable ammonia synthesis technologies

Trevor Brown February 03, 2017

Over the last few weeks, I've written extensively about sustainable ammonia synthesis projects funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE). While these projects are important, the US has no monopoly on technology development. Indeed, given the current uncertainty regarding energy policy under the Trump administration, the US may be at risk of stepping away from its assumed role as an industry leader in this area. This article introduces seven international projects, representing research coming out of eight countries spread across four continents. These projects span the breadth of next-generation ammonia synthesis research, from nanotechnology and electrocatalysis to plasmas and ionic liquids.

Comparative studies of ammonia production, combining renewable hydrogen with Haber-Bosch
Article

Comparative studies of ammonia production, combining renewable hydrogen with Haber-Bosch

Trevor Brown February 02, 2017

In recent months, research teams from both Canada and Italy have published comparative analyses of sustainable ammonia production pathways. These projects aim to quantify the costs and benefits of combining Haber-Bosch with a renewable hydrogen feedstock. Both projects examine the carbon intensity of ammonia production but, while the Canadian study broadens its remit to a full life cycle analysis, including global warming potential, human toxicity, and abiotic depletion, the Italian study focuses primarily on energy efficiency.

Ammonia Fuel Cells: SOFC stack test and system analysis
Article

Ammonia Fuel Cells: SOFC stack test and system analysis

Trevor Brown October 07, 2016

New research, recently published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, demonstrates that solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems fueled with ammonia could be "more efficient than equivalent hydrogen-based" systems. This new paper comes out of the Fuel Cell Lab at the University of Perugia, in Italy, and builds upon years of research coming out of that laboratory on the use of ammonia and urea in fuel cells.