Trafigura, Yara eye clean ammonia as marine fuel

Trading firm Trafigura and Norway-based fertilizer producer Yara signed an initial agreement today to explore supplying clean ammonia as a marine fuel to the shipping industry.

Yara will supply clean ammonia to Trafigura as part of the agreement. The firms will also jointly conduct research on the use of clean ammonia as a marine fuel, as well as develop marine fuel infrastructure and market opportunities for green and blue ammonia.

The International Maritime Organization aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry by 50pc compared with 2008 levels by 2050. The US has gone further and called for the shipping industry to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, a goal that the IEA does not think is attainable.

The agreement is a good example of cross-industry collaboration to develop and promote zero-emission fuel in the form of clean ammonia for the shipping industry, said Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, president of Yara subsidiary Clean Ammonia.

"Building clean ammonia value chains is critical to facilitate the transition to zero-emission fuels by enabling the hydrogen economy — not least within trade and distribution where both Yara and Trafigura have leading capabilities. Demand and supply of clean ammonia need to be developed in tandem," he added.

There is growing consensus that hydrogen-based fuels will ultimately become the shipping fuels of the future, said Jose Maria Larocca, executive director and co-head of oil trading at Trafigura. "But clear and comprehensive regulation is essential."

Yara last month announced that it will work with Japanese thermal power joint venture Jera to study the possibility of producing and shipping blue and green ammonia.

By Aabha Gandhi