An engine that makes its own hydrogen

Shipping’s search for viable zero-carbon fuels has long circled around two leading candidates. Ammonia is carbon-free, readily liquefied and already produced at industrial scale, but it ignites reluctantly, burns slowly and generates nitrogen oxides. Hydrogen burns quickly and cleanly, and blending it with ammonia improves performance and emissions, but storing it on a working vessel means chilling it to -253°C or compressing it at extreme pressure.

Our research proposes a way to sidestep the dilemma. Rather than carrying hydrogen as a separate fuel, the engine generates it from