Sustainably produced Ammonia is an interesting alternative to replace the use of fossil fuel to power a ship. However in order to use the ammonia for power generation it raises a lot of questions related to the ship’s design and operation. The researcher is looking at what the impact will be on the ship for it to use ammonia. Various aspects are considered – from how does the fuel come on board, to how can it safely be used, does it meet all the rules and regulations, and how can we burn this new fuel: what kind of engine do we need and how do we capture the NOX. 
For the burning of ammonia - in an engine - a second fuel is needed for the highest efficiency. The researcher is looking into how this second fuel can be freed from ammonia by coupling the engine with an ammonia fuel cell. The beauty of this coupling is that hydrogen is released from the ammonia in the fuel cell. Hydrogen is a perfect second fuel to improve the burning of ammonia in an engine. Moreover the coupling can also be used for dealing with quick variation in power that is needed when you want to maneuver a ship; this is an option that is not allowed by fuel cell only power plants.

Once we have demonstrated that using ammonia for fueling ships is feasible the next step is to implement this system. For that we need ship designers and engineers that will build these ships and ship owners who are willing to use these ships.