Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced that it has invested in Starfire Energy Inc, a US developer of modular chemical plants for green ammonia and hydrogen production.
The partnership with the Colorado-based company will “advance the development of commercial scale applications to decarbonise ammonia production and unlock its potential as a zero-carbon energy carrier”, MHI said in a news release.
“The investment has been executed through MHI America, joining a consortium of investors, including AP Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, New Energy Technologies and Osaka Gas USA.”
The company stated that ammonia is a solution with an energy density comparable to fossil fuels and higher than Li-ion batteries, compressed or liquid hydrogen.
Ammonia can be stored and transported, leveraging established infrastructure and shipping networks. It can be used directly as a fuel or it can be ‘cracked’, and its hydrogen harvested, to provide a means of hydrogen storage and transportation.
Starfire Energy’s ‘Rapid Ramp NH3’ ammonia synthesis technology produces zero carbon ammonia using only renewable energy, air and water as inputs. The modular solution is sized to connect directly with renewable energy production, providing a scalable, distributed source of zero carbon ammonia. The company has also developed their carbon-free fire, a system to crack ammonia back into hydrogen, providing an efficient means of green hydrogen storage and transportation.
Starfire’s solutions will provide carbon-free fuel to power utility gas turbines, large-scale ships, and process heat for industries like steel, cement and fuel cell vehicles.
“MHI views clean ammonia as an important new energy source for fuel use and hydrogen carriers and we are committed to expanding the hydrogen and ammonia value chain from production to utilisation by developing technologies such as the hydrogen and ammonia gas turbine,” said Ricky Sakai, VP of new business development at MHI America.
“We are very excited to be partnering with such notable global partners as we continue to scale up our systems and operations,” commented John LoPorto, CEO of Starfire Energy.