Science & Technology

The Carbonless Fuel That Could Change How We Ship Goods | Maria Gallucci | TED

Every day, tens of thousands of cargo ships, filled to the brim with goods, release heavy pollution into the air as they make their way across the ocean. In this eye-opening talk, reporter Maria Gallucci introduces a planet-friendly alternative that could fuel these globe-trotting vessels: green ammonia. Listen as she makes the case for this…

Published

on

Every day, tens of thousands of cargo ships, filled to the brim with goods, release heavy pollution into the air as they make their way across the ocean. In this eye-opening talk, reporter Maria Gallucci introduces a planet-friendly alternative that could fuel these globe-trotting vessels: green ammonia. Listen as she makes the case for this game-changing solution that has the potential to clean up the world’s dirtiest ships.

If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas:

Follow TED!
Twitter:
Instagram:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:

The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Watch more:

TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

#TED #MariaGallucci

65 Comments

  1. Nadir

    March 22, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    So concerned about climate change and yet more than 80% of what we buy has plastic packaging!

  2. StrangerEyes

    March 22, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    I propose a solution that requires the world energy production to double to produce my solution to replace a byproduct of a chemical refinery to fight carbon emissions….. flawless woman logic.

  3. Cawfee Dawg

    March 22, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    My question is how much electricity is required to create green ammonia?

    • vittoriobenedet

      March 22, 2022 at 6:11 pm

      Exactly. Electrolysis require A LOT of solar panel. This lady has good purposes, not dirty hand to really understand what she is talking about though. Imho

    • julian shepherd

      March 22, 2022 at 7:20 pm

      @vittoriobenedet well there is serious money behind green hydrogen from solar and wind and tidal.

    • Joe Doaks

      March 22, 2022 at 11:41 pm

      That 30% reduction in cost of production is a comparison to the refinery prices. The tech additionally produces copius fertilizer for farming. A 40ft container sized unit can produce all fuel and fertilizer for a 2000 acre farm for a year, according to the company website.

  4. TooMuchForIt

    March 22, 2022 at 4:24 pm

    I’m all for climate change and save the earth but, it is starting to sound like late stage capitalism

  5. Tyler Kolota

    March 22, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    If they built some of those ammonia plants, great. We need it now for fertilizer & food shortages.

    Actually using it for ships? Let’s wait until we aren’t facing possible global famines.

  6. Lalmuan thang

    March 22, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️❤️🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

  7. Todd Starbuck

    March 22, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    “Renewables” suck. Nuclear is far better on just about every measure.

  8. Muse Inglis

    March 22, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    Yeah, good luck with any of that!
    The Global Imperial Petrol ⛽️ Dominion will flush any of that ‘green’ nonsense down the oceanic toilet 🚽!
    😔

  9. Yoon Kim

    March 22, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    Is this better than hydrogen fuel cell?

  10. Eliot Poughon

    March 22, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    Or we can reduce world wide transportation ? Rather then trying to replace the fuel (hydrogen, ammonia, electric, etc)

  11. luke thomas

    March 22, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    Or we could just use electricity for everything but planes and rockets, and put trains everywhere.

  12. Travis Leith

    March 22, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    What are the NOX emissions like for an engine that runs on ammonia?

    • Joe Doaks

      March 22, 2022 at 7:47 pm

      There are no NOX emissions…the exhaust is water and nitrogen.

    • Marten Elsinga

      March 22, 2022 at 8:17 pm

      @Joe Doaks incomplete burning could create N2O

    • Joe Doaks

      March 22, 2022 at 8:36 pm

      @Marten Elsinga So make sure it burns completely…ey?

    • Marten Elsinga

      March 22, 2022 at 8:43 pm

      @Joe Doaks easier said than done

    • Joe Doaks

      March 22, 2022 at 10:17 pm

      @Marten Elsinga Shrug…seems that a pile of engineers (founder of company ex- NASA), along with the Hamberg Shipping Efficiency Conference and the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have both endorsed conversion to ammonia fuel. Just a matter of time mate…

  13. ronkirk50

    March 22, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    After a five year career as a merchant marine engineer before retiring, I lived on a sailboat and sailed 50,000 miles including a circumnavigation. I was totally off grid with a small wind turbine, two PV panels along with an engine driven alternator for electricity. I used an averaged <75 gals of diesel per year mainly getting in and out of ports and <30 gals of LPG for cooking fuel. It felt good to have a relatively small carbon footprint for a westerner that is.

  14. Liam Brown

    March 22, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    Anyone in the administration of Ted the past few years should be deeply ashamed of yourselves. This platform has become a absolute cesspool of garbage and dystopian programming. Deeply ashamed

  15. SquigglesZero

    March 22, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    Wow, how incredibly baseless and uninformed. Thank you.

  16. Final Destination

    March 22, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    The world must switch to green chemicals, green energy etc. to fight global warming and climate change asap!

  17. Jeffrey rex

    March 22, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    Industrial eyesore in Northern England?. Kind of disregarded some of the most humble and hard working people in the U.K. Poor form.

  18. julian shepherd

    March 22, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    Scotland planning lots of hydrogen from wind and eventual tidal energy.

  19. julian shepherd

    March 22, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    When oil stops the pipes currently used to move it about the North Sea can be reused for the hydrogen.

  20. Joe Doaks

    March 22, 2022 at 7:51 pm

    A Canadian company, FuelPositive, has developed a tech reducing ammonia production facilities from oil refinery size to that of a 40ft container…using water, air and electricity. A 30% reduction in production costs is achieved with not only shipping but trucking and all diesel/gasoline using engines, easily converted to ammonia…cool tech breakthrough.

    • B Soto

      March 23, 2022 at 2:11 am

      For that footprint and some solar panels why not just install onboard and just have tankers and such that never have to refuel? Cool indeed.

    • Joe Doaks

      March 23, 2022 at 3:55 am

      @B Soto then add the 5 yr plan for starters, combustion engine conversion, supposed to be relatively inexpensive, though I have neither data nor experience to back the claim. BUT, if true, there will be room for all kinds of entrepreneurial opportunity, chains of conversion shops, 40 ft container size fuel station chains world wide, nitrogen fertilizer generation sales and distribution and parts n service as they say.

    • B Soto

      March 23, 2022 at 5:06 am

      @Joe Doaks I was all pumped, till I started looking at the safety issues relating to ammonia, especially industrial applications. Yikes! How “Green” can something be if it’s carbon neutral, sustainable, relatively easy to produce, and will absolutely decimate every living thing in the vicinity of an accident? How many oil spills have there been? Imagine that many industrial ammonia accidents! Like a couple of Bhopal disasters a year. I think maybe they should keep looking. But companies are already invested in getting on this gravy train. It will make a great summer blockbuster disaster movie though.

    • Joe Doaks

      March 23, 2022 at 6:27 am

      @B Soto Ammonia, as a fuel,, has been in use industrially since Haber-Bosch figured how to make it in the early 1900’s…over my head to debate what big brains are designing and developing.

  21. Charles Crossley

    March 22, 2022 at 8:29 pm

    Ammonia can generate nitrous oxide with a very high global warming potential. It’s a poor choice to burn. It is only useful as a carrier for Hydrogen.

  22. Persepolis

    March 22, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    As long big countries are wasting food and are big consumers there would be a problem. We should make gas from composted food and using it instead of fuel until we discover new sources of energy like liquid battery that can be added into the battery instead of electricity for recharging.

  23. Matt Dias

    March 22, 2022 at 11:33 pm

    That’s not how you fix the problem. What you do is stop being trash people who keep buying trash non-stop. If you need something build it yourself if you cant build it or learn to build it than you don’t need it. Consumers are the scum of the earth.

  24. Thi Nguyễn Thái

    March 23, 2022 at 1:43 am

    My English is very bad. Can you help me?:(((

  25. Bar Room Buddha

    March 23, 2022 at 1:46 am

    How about CARBON FILTER UNDERWEAR?

    • Max Kirby

      March 23, 2022 at 2:08 am

      I’ll take 2 please

  26. jefferee2002

    March 23, 2022 at 2:00 am

    Gee all we need is infrastructure and renewable energy and it needs to be made safe and new ships need to be built. That’s all. Sounds so easy.

  27. Priyanka Garai

    March 23, 2022 at 2:42 am

    Cosmos, life and consciousness=quantum(Dirac), molecular(Dawkins) and memetic(Dennet) adjustments respectively!

  28. H

    March 23, 2022 at 3:10 am

    _No! No more of this blah blah blah. No fuels! No carbon of any kind. Even the carbonless variety. We the future whose childhoods you have stolen have spoken! The answer is solar. Solar. Always solar!_ —GretaThunberg

  29. Steve Shaw

    March 23, 2022 at 3:38 am

    Global warming has nothing to do with auto exhaust or emissions. There has been a substantial rise in volcanic activity over the last hundred years especially in the oceans. This has increased the temperature of the land, the sea, and the air. The earth’s climate is most likely changing back to what it was 2,000 years ago when it was much warmer. When the Romans were in Britain (40BC-380AD) they grew citrus fruit in the north.

  30. XOOM CHANNEL

    March 23, 2022 at 5:12 am

    The sooner the better this tech into mass production… reducting the dependency on fossil fuel ( not totally off ) but to a point kept minimal

  31. Stim Gaming Channel

    March 23, 2022 at 5:12 am

    The sooner the better this tech into mass production… reducting the dependency on fossil fuel ( not totally off ) but to a point kept minimal

  32. fingersmike

    March 23, 2022 at 5:23 am

    Lets totally ignore nitrogen oxides produced from burning ammonia

  33. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕼𝖚𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖒 𝕴𝖑𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖒

    March 23, 2022 at 6:04 am

    This Week! Quantum Karma! Prepare!👁

  34. Nobody Special

    March 23, 2022 at 7:21 am

    Why make this all so complicated? You can extract hydrogen from water using a cobalt phosphate catalyst, with a simple electrolysis reaction powered by solar panels. Safer, ecologically, cheaper, easier, better.

    • Bernhard Schmalhofer

      March 23, 2022 at 6:02 pm

      Maria Gallucci did mention that the Hydrogen needed for green Ammonia can be generated by electrolysis.

    • Nobody Special

      March 23, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      @Bernhard Schmalhofer Yes, but it was just kind of in passing. Instead of going on to make ammonia, which requires more time, energy and effort, things already in short supply, one can simply pump the hydrogen into graphene lined tanks, where it is stored until used or traded.

  35. Jack B

    March 23, 2022 at 8:10 am

    Just go nuclear. Small modular Thorium technology would be the best bet and would probably take just as long to develop as industrial ammonia

  36. MostlyLoveOfMusic

    March 23, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Why have ted started disabling likes?

  37. Jacob Scanlon

    March 23, 2022 at 8:21 am

    If ammonia is a viable fuel that’s actually so good it would cost basically nothing to create ammonia and would be insanely sustainable I’ve never heard that one before. But how much would it cost for the cell and stuff?

  38. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    March 23, 2022 at 9:15 am

    ‘تيد’ !.

    أمامنا خيارين إما تفكيك أو تغيره لمستقبل أفضل🌍 وأكثر استدامة وأمنا

    هذه لحظة محورية من أجل الكوكب🌍،

    علينا أن نجد سبيل لنعيد مد جسور الثقة بيننا ورعاية بعضنا بعضاً من أجل الإنسانية💚،
    وسعياً لتوحيد القوى لفتق أفق من الإحتمالات التي لا تحصى🌍،

    معا يمكننا بناءً مستقبل أفضل🌍.

    شكرا جزيلا لكم على تضامنكم في بناء مستقبل أفضل.

    أنقذ شعوبنا!.
    أنقذ كوكبنا !!!.

    # أشكرك.

    ###
    .

  39. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    March 23, 2022 at 9:16 am

    السيدات والسادة النبلاء..
    آوه، ‘تيد’ !.

    أمامنا خيارين إما تفكيك أو تغيره لمستقبل أفضل🌍 وأكثر استدامة وأمنا

    هذه لحظة محورية من أجل الكوكب🌍،

    علينا أن نجد سبيل لنعيد مد جسور الثقة بيننا ورعاية بعضنا بعضاً من أجل الإنسانية💚،
    وسعياً لتوحيد القوى لفتق أفق من الإحتمالات التي لا تحصى🌍،

    معا يمكننا بناءً مستقبل أفضل🌍.

    شكرا جزيلا لكم على تضامنكم في بناء مستقبل أفضل.

    أنقذ شعوبنا!.
    أنقذ كوكبنا !!!.

    # أشكرك.

    ###
    .

  40. Siranut usawasutsakorn

    March 23, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    Hmm? I think Sodium is also a good choice.

  41. Muthulakshmi S

    March 23, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    Green ammonia fuelled cargo ships – like EV’s it’s a step towards zero-emissions of black carbon
    Green ammonia to be manufactured buy hydrogen from electrolysis & nitrogen from air (H & N) in industrial process of high temperature changes to NH3-ammonia

    • Vineeth A

      March 23, 2022 at 6:39 pm

      Eletrolysis needs high amount of electricity and extraction of N2 from air requires high electricity again. Ammonia is not that feasible currently

    • Vineeth A

      March 23, 2022 at 6:40 pm

      Electro*

  42. Jêpê ™

    March 23, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Will my car still make noise?

  43. Defy the label

    March 23, 2022 at 8:55 pm

    But there aren’t millions of boats compared to EV’s. You can’t make the price plummet in the same way.

  44. Invox

    March 24, 2022 at 2:55 pm

    Why did TED remove the Like counter???

  45. kaupaxup

    March 24, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    These ships are massive… are they big enough just to make their own fuel right on-board? Or perhaps they can reduce fuel tank size by having specific ships in the fleet or platforms on shipping lanes that produce the fuel off shore.

  46. Mykel Mellen

    March 24, 2022 at 11:39 pm

    “What is….wind?”

  47. Debra Lynn Paxton

    March 25, 2022 at 2:32 am

    Interesting.

  48. N

    March 25, 2022 at 8:28 am

    How about efficiency? Is similary bad as fuelcell cars are?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

Exit mobile version