United States: start-up Amogy sails the first boat powered by ammonia

In the quest for a carbon-free world, can ammonia be an asset? On the weekend of September 21, Amogy, an American start-up, sailed a boat powered by the chemical compound for the first time on the Hudson River. The experiment, described as a success, took place in New York. Amogy – a combination of ammonia and energy – renovated an old trailer boat built in 1957. It was renamed NH3 Kraken, NH3, like the chemical formula for ammonia. The boat ran on fuel oil. The start-up installed its technology on it, which converts ammonia into electrical energy. Amogy “cracks,” she says, the compound by separating hydrogen and nitrogen. The hydrogen is used in a fuel cell that will produce water rather than greenhouse gases.

Before this test on a boat, which requires a lot of energy, with its ammonia, Amogy had already flown a drone and powered a tractor and then a heavy goods vehicle, and plans to replace the fuel generators found in the mining industry or in construction.

The maritime industry represents 3% of greenhouse gases

This is promising and important, they say at Amogy, founded in 2020 by four alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the best engineering schools on the planet. Because the maritime industry represents, according to the United Nations, 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of Germany – but aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. “Without solving this problem, we will not be able to help the planet to last,” warns Seonghoon Woo, the boss of the start-up. “This is not the problem of the next generation, it is a really big problem for our generation,” he tells the Associated Press.

Amogy’s technology has convinced, among others, Amazon and Aramco, the Saudi oil giant, to invest in it. The firm has already raised more than 200 million dollars and established ties, for example, with Hanwha, a South Korean cargo ship builder.

A technology that generates nitrogen oxides

But ammonia is a dangerous product, sometimes even toxic. So it must be treated with care. It is also prepared, most often today, using natural gas, in a process that is not particularly healthy for the climate, recalls the AP agency. And Amogy’s current technology generates nitrogen oxides. The start-up must still find a solution to get rid of them. Lastly, and perhaps the least problematic, this “clean fuel” costs more than fuel oil, which will inevitably hinder its adoption. But as is often the case, Amogy hopes that economies of scale will reduce costs.