Ammonia is a compound that is primarily used in fertilizers to increase crop yield and other agricultural purposes. In addition, it is also used in the chemical industries as a refrigerant and to manufacture synthetic fibers, resins, and other products. Because of its various applications, there is an existing commercial distribution network for ammonia globally that includes large-refrigerated tanks, pipes, road tankers, and ships. This also supports the growing interest around ammonia’s application in other non-traditional areas such as a carrier for hydrogen transportation, as a fuel for multiple industries, and for energy storage.
Ammonia can be used as a potential energy carrier because of its higher energy density which is nine times the energy density of Lithium-ion batteries and three times that of compressed hydrogen. Ammonia has emerged as the most viable hydrogen energy carrier in the near term and is expected to be commercialized in the mid-2020s. Further, ammonia is attracting worldwide interest as a potential carbon-free fuel for marine engines and power plant turbines as well as in a fuel cell to produce electricity. Ammonia can be readily cracked and purified to produce hydrogen when required such as in fuel cell applications. Furthermore, ammonia is easier and cheaper to store and transport. Ammonia can be stored in bulk as a liquid at modest pressures (10-15 bar) or refrigerated at -33 degree Celsius which makes it an ideal chemical storage option for renewable energy.
Rising demand to replace carbon-intensive energy is creating opportunities for hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia. Although ammonia itself contains no carbon but carbon is generated while producing it. Today, ammonia is mostly produced from natural gas, mainly methane, from the steam methane reforming (SMR) process which consumes a lot of energy and is also responsible for ~1% of global greenhouse gas emissions and ~1.8% of global CO2 emissions. One way of making green ammonia is by using green hydrogen produced from water electrolysis and nitrogen separated from the air using sustainable electricity via the Haber process. In addition, another near-term option for creating carbon-free ammonia at scale is using blue hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is where carbon emissions from the SMR process are captured and stored using carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit.
Several countries are becoming interested in green ammonia to reduce carbon emissions. Japan is one such country and has been experimenting with hydrogen to displace natural gas as well as coal with ammonia. Japan aims to increase its annual hydrogen demand from 2 million tons (MMtpy) today to 3 MMtpy by 2030, and 20 MMtpy by 2050. Japan also aims to grow its ammonia fuel demand to 3 MMtpy by 2030 from zero now. Ammonia is expected to provide more than 1% of Japan’s total electricity supply by 2030. Initially, Japan plans to burn ammonia alongside coal to generate electricity.
To achieve this goal, Japan’s electricity industry is planning to commercialize ammonia in electricity industry. Japan’s biggest power generator JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, aims to achieve 20% use of ammonia at its coal-fired power plants by 2035, which would lower emissions by 20% and eventually achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
JERA will begin a demonstration project to develop technology to co-fire ammonia and coal at a 1 gigawatt (GW) commercial coal-fired power plant. The company aims to achieve an ammonia co-firing rate of 20% at a 1 GW unit in Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi, in 2024−2025.
Further, Japan and Russia plan to cooperate in research and development on technologies such as carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the two countries also plan to work together to shift away from oil and natural gas to cleaner fuel alternatives. Japan has limited potential to produce sustainable energy of its own, so the country is looking for ways to import and viability of ammonia transportation by sea in a liquid form makes it a suitable option. Japan has plans to import blue and green hydrogen from resource rich countries such as Australia. Further, Saudi Aramco and the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan have conducted a feasibility study that is intended to result in a demonstration shipment of carbon-free ammonia to Japan. Availability of green hydrogen is a long-term prospect and an uptick in renewable energy production in large countries such as Australia will play a major role in Japan’s transition towards cleaner energy.
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– Swati Singh and Uday Turaga
