TELEGRAM · Project

Green Ammonia as Carbon-Free Energy Storage Made by Electricity and Air

energyPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)

Imagine turning air, water, and renewable electricity into a liquid fuel you can store in a tank — that's green ammonia. Right now, making ammonia is a dirty industrial process responsible for 1-2% of all global CO2 emissions. This team built a lab-scale system that produces ammonia cleanly using electricity, then burns it back in a fuel cell to generate power again — a complete round-trip energy cycle with zero carbon. Think of it like a rechargeable battery, but instead of lithium, the energy is stored as a liquid chemical you can ship anywhere.

By the numbers

1-2%

Share of global CO2 emissions from current ammonia production

<100°C

Operating temperature for electrochemical ammonia synthesis

>50%

Target faradaic efficiency for ammonia production

10^-7 mol/s/cm²

Minimum target ammonia production rate

100 mW/cm²

Target power density for direct ammonia fuel cell

>25%

Target chemical-to-electricity efficiency of fuel cell

<0.05 mg/cm²

Target platinum-group metal loading in fuel cell

95%

Target combined efficiency of ammonia generation and fuel cell

Consortium partners across 3 countries

The business problem

What needed solving

Industrial ammonia production is one of the dirtiest chemical processes on earth, responsible for 1-2% of all global CO2 emissions. At the same time, the energy sector desperately needs better ways to store renewable electricity long-term — batteries work for hours, but not for seasons. There is no commercially available system that can cleanly produce ammonia from renewables and convert it back to electricity on demand.

The solution

What was built

The team built a laboratory-scale complete green ammonia energy cycle: an electrochemical reactor that synthesizes ammonia from air, water, and renewable electricity at below 100°C, coupled with a direct ammonia fuel cell that converts the ammonia back to electricity. They also developed new catalyst materials including high entropy alloys to minimize expensive platinum-group metals.

Audience

Who needs this

Renewable energy companies needing seasonal electricity storage solutionsFertilizer and chemical manufacturers under pressure to decarbonize ammonia productionMaritime shipping companies evaluating ammonia as zero-carbon marine fuelOff-grid energy system developers looking for hydrogen alternativesIndustrial gas companies expanding into green ammonia supply

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Renewable Energy Storage

enterprise

Target: Wind and solar farm operators needing long-duration energy storage

If you are a renewable energy operator dealing with seasonal overproduction and curtailment — this project developed an electrochemical ammonia synthesis reactor operating below 100°C that converts surplus electricity into storable liquid ammonia. Unlike batteries that discharge in hours, ammonia can sit in a tank for months and be converted back to electricity via a direct ammonia fuel cell targeting over 25% efficiency.

Chemical Manufacturing

enterprise

Target: Ammonia and fertilizer producers seeking to decarbonize production

If you are a fertilizer or chemical company under pressure to cut CO2 from ammonia production — this project demonstrated green ammonia synthesis at below 100°C using electrochemistry instead of the traditional Haber-Bosch process. The target production rate of at least 10^-7 mol/s/cm² with faradaic efficiency above 50% points toward a path to replace fossil-fuel-based ammonia manufacturing.

Maritime Shipping

enterprise

Target: Shipping companies and port operators exploring ammonia as marine fuel

If you are a shipping company looking for zero-carbon fuels to meet IMO decarbonization targets — this project built and tested a direct ammonia fuel cell achieving power density of at least 100 mW/cm² with minimal platinum-group metal loading below 0.05 mg/cm². Ammonia is easy to liquefy and store compared to hydrogen, making it a practical candidate for long-haul maritime propulsion.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to adopt this green ammonia technology?

The project does not disclose cost-per-kilogram figures for the ammonia produced. However, the system targets minimal use of expensive platinum-group metals (below 0.05 mg/cm²), which is a deliberate strategy to reduce fuel cell costs. Commercial cost projections would require further scale-up studies beyond this lab demonstration.

Can this scale to industrial production volumes?

Based on available project data, this was demonstrated at laboratory scale only. The electrochemical reactor targets a production rate of at least 10^-7 mol/s/cm², which would need to be multiplied across large electrode areas for industrial output. Scaling from lab to plant is a significant engineering step that lies beyond this project's scope.

What is the IP situation and how can I license this?

The project was coordinated by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy), a public research organization, with 3 other research/university partners across Germany, Italy, and Sweden. IP from EU-funded RIA projects typically stays with the partners who generated it. Licensing discussions would need to go through the individual consortium members.

How efficient is the full energy round-trip?

The project targeted 95% of the combined efficiencies of the ammonia generation step and the fuel cell step. The fuel cell alone targets chemical-to-electricity efficiency above 25%, and the synthesis step targets faradaic efficiency above 50%. The actual achieved round-trip efficiency would depend on the final demo results.

How does this compare to hydrogen storage?

Ammonia has a higher volumetric energy density than hydrogen and is far easier to liquefy and store — no cryogenic tanks needed. The project specifically positions ammonia as a superior energy vector to H2 for these practical reasons. The trade-off is the added conversion steps between ammonia and usable electricity.

What is the timeline to market readiness?

The project ran from November 2020 to April 2024 and achieved laboratory-scale demonstration. Based on available project data, reaching commercial deployment would likely require pilot-scale testing and industrial engineering partnerships that are not yet in place. The zero industry partners in the consortium confirms this is still in the research-to-prototype transition.

Consortium

Who built it

The TELEGRAM consortium is a compact, research-heavy team of 4 partners from 3 countries (Germany, Italy, Sweden), coordinated by Italy's national research council (CNR). With 3 research organizations and 1 university, there are zero industrial partners and zero SMEs — this is a purely academic effort. For a business looking to adopt this technology, the absence of industry involvement means no commercial validation has occurred yet. Any company interested would be entering at the ground floor, which means more risk but also more opportunity to shape the technology's commercial direction through licensing or co-development agreements.

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHECoordinator · IT
FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBHparticipant · DE
UPPSALA UNIVERSITETparticipant · SE
HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM BERLIN FUR MATERIALIEN UND ENERGIE GMBHparticipant · DE

How to reach the team

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy — contact through project website or institutional directory

Order a report on this consortium See CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore licensing green ammonia technology from this consortium? SciTransfer can connect you with the right research team and navigate the IP landscape.

Order a report on this topic More in Energy & Climate