Two developments this week as progress continues towards clean ammonia supply chains between the EU and the Middle East:
1. ADNOC signed multiple agreements with a diverse set of German organisations to study, implement and accelerate clean hydrogen supply chains between Germany and the UAE. Among the agreements is the execution of a blue ammonia “demonstration cargo” shipment from the UAE to Germany this year, via Fertiglobe’s Fertil plant in al Ruwais, UAE.
2. The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation signed a new MoU on hydrogen energy, with a view to supplying Europe via green hydrogen & ammonia imports into the Port of Rotterdam.
We look at four new developments this week:
1. A team from DTU Energy and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have uncovered a new class of alternative catalysts for mild condition ammonia synthesis. The ternary ruthenium complex hydrides Li4RuH6 and Ba2RuH6 avoid the energy-intensive pathway of nitrogen dissociation in a "synergistic" manner.
2. A team from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials reported a highly selective (95%) plasma ammonia synthesis method.
3. A team from Delft University of Technology has presented an present an "unconventional electrochemical design" that physically separates hydrogen and dinitrogen activation sites.
4. A team at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research has demonstrated a new mechanochemical ammonia synthesis system that operates at room temperature and pressures as low as 1 bar.
