Amogy, a company that offers ammonia-based, emission-free, high energy-density power solutions, has tested an ammonia-powered, zero-emission semi truck.

After integrating its technology into a 5 kW drone in July 2021 and 100kW John Deere tractor in May 2022, the company scaled its ammonia-to-power technology to 300 kW. Following an eight-minute-long fueling, the truck, having 900 kWh of total stored net electric energy, was tested for several hours on the campus of Stony Brook University in New York.

The Amogy team will next pursue a full-scale testing on a test track to showcase the truck’s performance under various real-world operating conditions.

This latest presentation was done to prove ammonia to be a viable, sustainable solution for heavy-duty trucking industries. Amogy officials say they think the ammonia-to-power system can enable the trucking industry's transition away from diesel-powered engines and to alternative fuel-to-power technologies.

Amogy’s technology enables the on-board cracking of ammonia into hydrogen, which is then sent directly into a fuel cell to power the vehicle. Liquid ammonia has an energy density that is approximately three times greater than compressed hydrogen and it requires significantly less energy, making it cost-effective to store and transport, the company said.

A global commodity, 200 million tons of ammonia are already produced and transported each year.

“Beyond its incredible energy-density and liquid phase at an ambient temperature, ammonia is an optimal fuel to achieve rapid decarbonization of heavy transportations because it is available globally with existing infrastructure already in place,” Amogy CEO Seonghoon Woo said in a statement. “This achievement not only showcases Amogy’s technology as an accessible and scalable solution for trucking, it also highlights the capabilities and dedication of our outstanding team. First it was an ammonia-powered drone, then a tractor, and now a truck. In the near future, we look forward to further scaling and tackling other hard-to-abate sectors, such as global shipping.” 

Amogy will continue to pursue strategic partnerships across the global shipping and transportation industries. This includes the company’s 1 MW-scale ammonia-powered tugboat to be presented later in 2023, and other commercial deployments with partners including a recently announced inland barge retrofit project with Southern Devall.