Green Ammonia’s Next Leap: Safe Scaling Through Collaboration

Introduction

Energy security and addressing climate change can go hand in hand, as the diversification of energy away from fossil fuel reliance can lead to clean new energy sources and systems.  In this transition, green ammonia emerges as a vital component, offering a pathway to connect global energy systems sustainably.

In efforts to ramp up green ammonia production and explore its applications in new energy contexts, a growing conversation has emerged concerning the risks and safety implications of this scaling industry. As opposed to outright dismissing these concerns, it is vital that we address them head on, put them in context, and mitigate these risks wherever they arise.

This is a short foray into addressing one of the most essential questions in our industry: “Will a future built on green ammonia be a safe one?”

The Perception of Risk

Before discussing green ammonia, let’s compare the risks of new energy applications with past industry examples. When fossil energy was accepted into society it came with a variety of new risks (many of which are still present in today’s applications), such as: speed of transport, oil spills, gas fires, explosions, microplastics, plastic soup and, perhaps most notably of all, climate change. It is also even in the day-to-day application of oil and gas that we experience risk without necessarily knowing it. The commonplace use of interior gas ovens and heating systems still to this day can have serious health ramifications, with a recent study showing that roughly 1300 people a year in the Netherlands lose two years of their overall life expectancy due to routine use of gas stoves.

As a Dutchman myself, I take this one a little personally.

Now, clean energy certainly comes with risks, but just because these risks are new, it does not necessarily make them impossible to navigate and address. If anything, navigating the current risks of building the new infrastructure required for green and low-carbon energy sources is already benefitting from over a century of learnings from the established energy sector.   

Understanding the Risks of Ammonia

Ammonia is often at the center of safety discussions in the energy transition, frequently portrayed as a hazardous or even toxic substance. But how risky is it really?

Ammonia is classified as a corrosive—meaning it can cause harm to skin and eyes upon contact and requires strict handling and containment. This is its main risk. This sets it apart from substances like methanol, chlorine, pesticides, or lead, which are more tightly associated with toxicity in the metabolic processes, due to accumulation in the body.

The perception of ammonia’s danger is amplified by public discourse, even though its corrosivity does not degrade most materials. Interestingly, it’s a common ingredient in household degreasers, thanks to its caustic nature; and its distinct pungent odor acts as a built-in warning system, detectable well below harmful concentrations (around 5 ppm), offering a safety advantage many other chemicals lack.

The Reality of Risk

Moving beyond perception, how can we look to treat the risks associated with ammonia, especially in the face of scaling its production and widening its application in new industries?

First, there needs to be a strong, near mandatory transfer of knowledge between new and legacy players in the safe handling of ammonia. With an additional 400mtpa of clean ammonia production (green and low-carbon) capacity potentially coming on stream by 2050 for new end use (maritime and energy carrier), this will lead to tripling of production and a 20-fold increase in ammonia trade. New upstream and downstream players will get involved in ammonia, and they will not have the same level of experience as the century old current ammonia players. Luckily, experience does not come solely by years. Through thorough training and the creation of forums for open knowledge transfer, we can leverage the hard-earned experience of the traditional ammonia industry and ensure that the effective and safe scaling of green ammonia

We are even beginning to see this emphasis on training in the industries where ammonia is expected to have new and sizeable applications. A recent study on maritime community perception of ammonia as marine fuel (by Maersk McKinney Møller center for zero carbon shipping), confirms especially the need for training and knowledge in case a loss of containment should happen.

Secondly, these industry specific knowledge transfers should be paired with the scaling and sharing of risk reduction technologies and practices. An excellent example of this can be found in the shipping industry, with the current focus on safe ammonia transfers (ship-to-ship), simulating bunkering to fully address the learnings, on the basis of today's safe practice. The continuous improvement of loading/unloading safety mechanisms have been improved and implemented by companies involved in ammonia already in the last decades, significantly decreasing the probability of leaks, while dealing with increased volumes. Additionally, the marine industry developed many best practices when LNG bunkering was implemented. LNG was considered a new fuel only a decade ago, beforehand it was a new tradeable commodity coming to scale late into the 1980s – perhaps we can create a similar speed of adoption for green ammonia as a new fuel.

We have also seen similar developments in sensors and early warning systems, which significantly improved sensitivity and detection limits, and which are continuously being applied. Additionally, the ammonia production industry has contributed knowledge essential in the making of the first ammonia fueled ship designs, ensuring that their learnings and best practices reach every area of the industry, even the engine rooms.

Conclusion

Does the conversation around ammonia safety end here? Of course not, continuous and rigorous improvement, ensuring knowledge exchange on design and most importantly training of people will have to remain in focus.

But this focus can be blurred or at worst impeded if it is filtered through a perception of risk that obscures the issues we face. The risks associated with ammonia are a part of a long lineage of energy and chemical infrastructure that has presented risk, especially during the early phases of their adoption into new use cases. In the past we moved from horses and carriages into diesel cars. Now we move from diesel cars into new ammonia energy to transport our EV’s and goods. As we deploy new solutions we take on different risks, but these risks can and will be mitigated just as we have mitigated risks in energy before.

In the case of ammonia, I believe we are in the privileged position of harnessing its energy in new applications while leveraging over a century of knowledge to do it safely. And, while ammonia’s use as an e-fuel in marine shipping is a new and exciting application, it is nice to remember that it already has a routine and even delicious role in some of our lives every day. A personal favorite of mine is ‘salmiak’ (salt of ammonia) in ‘zoute rijen’ liquorice. These candies offer two sweet (and quite salty) reminders. First, ammonia is here, it is already integrated into our everyday lives. And second, the key to scaling - its use into new applications - is heavy industry coming together, sharing knowledge, and collaborating towards a better future.