Royal Society | Ammonia: zero-carbon fertiliser, fuel and energy store

Ammonia:zero-carbon fertiliser, fuel and energy store

The production of green ammonia has the capability to impact the transition towards zero-carbon through the decarbonisation of its current major use in fertiliser production. 

Perhaps as significantly, it has the following potential uses:

• As a medium to store and transport chemical energy, with the energy being released either by directly reacting with air 
or by the full or partial decomposition of ammonia to release hydrogen. 

• As a transport fuel, by direct combustion in an engine or through chemical reaction with oxygen in the air in a fuel cell to produce 
electricity to power a motor.

• To store thermal energy through the absorption of water and through phase changes between material states (for example liquid to gas).

With its relatively high energy density of around 3 kWh/litre and existing global transportation and storage infrastructure, ammonia could form the basis of a new, integrated worldwide renewable energy storage and distribution solution. 

Ammonia and Hydrogen