When it comes to using ammonia, ideas and strategies in Japan and Germany differ widely.
(Photo: The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty Images)
Yokohama Behind a steel door lies the world premiere of the hydrogen economy, an innovation that could help transform the energy of the future. It looks inconspicuous, the small machine in the development center of the Japanese heavy industry giant IHI in Yokohama.
“This is the first turbine that can be operated 100 percent with ammonia,” says Nobuhiko Kubota, head of development at the group. It works with almost no emissions, as Kubota explains: “We were able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 99 percent.”
When he presented the technology at a conference in Hamburg at the end of 2022, many German participants were surprised, says the engineer. The widespread view is that the chemical is too toxic to be used on a large scale. But the IHI Group has technically solved precisely this problem. According to Kubota, the process control has brought the harmful nitrogen oxides that can form during combustion under control.
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