Start-up Amogy sails the first ammonia-powered boat

The American start-up has converted an old boat that ran on fuel oil to run on ammonia, a carbon-free compound. A promise for the particularly polluting maritime transport industry.

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 on the Hudson River for the first time. 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 the NH3 Kraken, NH3, like the chemical formula for ammonia. The boat ran on fuel oil. The start-up installed its technology, which converts ammonia into electrical energy, on it. Amogy “crack“, she said, 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 driven a tractor and then a heavy goods vehicle, and is considering replacing the fuel generators that can be found in the mining industry or in construction.

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 next generation’s problem, this is a really big problem for our generation.” he told the Associated Press.

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

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. Last point, 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.