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Another dual fuel engine / vehicle in the making - Amonia Powered Vehicle

August 12, 2007 on 4:21 pm | In Hybrid vehicles, New Technology, Amonia-powered vehicle | No Comments

Well folks the race to alternative fuels continues — now there is a new entrant.  This time it is an Amonia powered engine.  Actually it is a gasoline+amonia powered engine where according to NH3CAR (the company developing and commercializing the technology), the mix is 80% amonia and 20% gasoline.  The company has outfitted a GM S-10 truck with the system to use the new fuel — a system which actually allows for the vehicle to use both gasoline only as well as gasoline + amonia mixture.

According to the company, this alternative fuel technology has one very critical benefit — it helps reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere as amonia does not have carbon in its chemical composition.

So there you have it folks — the rising energy costs are finally creating enough incentives for technology development and companies (as well as universities) are jumping in.

In the case of Amonia University of Michigan grad student is behind the dual fuel technology development.  At the same time, apparently Ohio State Univ. is developing amonia only engine.

When you think about it, both developments have merit.  I agree in the early stages having the dual fuel system is important as refueling of amonia only engine would be a challenge (until infrastructure develops) but if the fuel and engine really work (based on amonia as a fuel) this infrastructure development should happen very fast.  Amonia is so plentiful, the US and worldwide manufacturers have experience in its production, (after all it has been used in agriculture for a long time) so deploying the technology fast should not be a big challenge.

Lets see…..  I will track the progress of the two approaches…