Transporting green hydrogen as ammonia or toluene?

This data-file models the costs of converting green hydrogen into ammonia, transporting the ammonia in an LPG tanker, then converting the ammonia back into hydrogen through ammonia cracking.


We model what hydrogen price is required, (in $/kg), to earn a 10% IRR on the investment, the energy intensity of the process (in kWH/kg) and the overall energy efficiency (in %), based on technical papers and recent guidance from Air Products (which aims to start up a 230kTpa project in 2025).

With some generous assumptions, a large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia value chain may be able to reach consumers in developed world countries at a cost of $10/kg, although this looks ambitious, and additional costs may be incurred or returns may be diluted.

For comparison, the final two tabs of the model also test a more promising pathway, using Toluene-methylcyclohexane as a hydrogen carrier, including our top seven conclusions.

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