A future of cars powered by electric batteries is inevitable.
But what about trucks, ships, and planes?
But theres another chemical that could be used and its abundant in your pee.
What is ammonia, and why use it to power vehicles?
It rapidly releases energy in combustion and has a high energy density by volume.
It also comes with substantial environmental advantages.
How does ammonia stack up compared to other energy sources?
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The other advantage of ammonia is that the chemical has been used industrially for over a century.
Hang on, ammonia, arent you talking about pee?
Yeah, basically, urine turns into ammonia, which can then be used to produce energy.
Up until now though, its been strictly academic.
Theyve since extended the cells topowering home appliances.
However, while scientists are onboard, were yet to see full adoption of ammonia in energy production.
Why havent we seen wider adoption of ammonia?
But now technological advancements are reinforcing its viability in larger-scale capabilities.
Ammonia is stored inside a cylinder in its liquid form.
The hydrogen generates electricity to power and propel the vehicle.
The researchers are also planning to develop an ammonia-powered minibus and aircraft.
Another player is the companyAmogy, founded in the US in 2020.
The company is a pioneer of emission-free, energy-dense ammonia power solutions.
Earlier this month, an Amogy reactor powered a mid-sized John Deere tractor with ammonia.
It plans to apply its systems to an 18-wheel tractor-trailer and an ocean cargo ship.
This is a big deal in getting ammonium from outside the lab into tangible, industrial use cases.
Were a while from mass commercial adoption.
But right now seems like a perfect time to accelerate our efforts to advance less underrepresented forms of alternativeenergy.
And considering urine is the largest waste product on earth, its not like well run out anytime soon.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
