Blue ammonia: Fuel of the future? says an article published in Borneo Bulletin.
Blue Ammonia
The potential and benefits of blue ammonia as a clean fuel of the future were recently highlighted in a commentary by Senior Energy Forecast Analyst from the Energy Economics and Forecasting Department of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Secretariat Dr. Hussein Moghaddam.
Dr. Moghaddam shared that, according to the latest edition of the GECF Global Gas Outlook 2050, the demand for natural gas is expected to increase by 50 percent from 3,950 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019 to 5,920bcm by 2050.
“Therefore, natural gas would be an integral part of the world energy supply for the following years,” he said.
“Meanwhile, gas producers perceive natural gas as a vector of the energy transition, notably hydrogen, and thus in order to achieve long-term emission reduction targets, they have begun to consider hydrogen as crucial fuel for sustainable global decarbonization. In this regard, blue ammonia has also emerged as a prominent feedstock to boost a low-carbon economy.”
He noted that in 2021, the GECF is developing its Hydrogen Scenario (HS) as well as Carbon Neutrality Scenario (CNS).
He said, “Within these two scenarios, a wide range of energy majors’ pathways towards decarbonization in energy transition, such as blue hydrogen, blue ammonia and the application of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) will be captured. Initial results show that blue ammonia has the potential as a future fuel for the maritime and power generation sectors”.
To expand the production of blue ammonia
The continuing growth in gas production and LNG inflow has enabled gas producers and industries to expand the production of blue ammonia.
Accordingly, the growth in ammonia production and its declining carbon intensity are in line with global targets of transitioning away from carbon-based fuels.
The analyst said, “Currently, ammonia enjoys the advantages of an existing broad user-base as it is the basis of fertilizer production. Besides, well-developed infrastructure and large-scale ammonia production facilities are available around the world, making its production more feasible”.
“Furthermore, recent advances in turbine engine technologies have led to the increased use of ammonia, either directly for combustion or indirectly by reforming it back into nitrogen and hydrogen as an industrial feedstock”.
Compared to hydrogen, ammonia does not require cooling to extreme temperatures and also features a higher energy density than liquid hydrogen, making it more efficient to transport and store. In contrast, a significant challenge for hydrogen is the high cost of storing systems, the purity requirement, and transportation. These advantages suggest that ammonia could readily be a competitive option as a solution for decarbonizing the energy-intensive industry, particularly in the power generation and transport sectors.
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Source: Borneo Bulletin
