This is pretty unusual. Thought it might amuse some of you.

A company is touting anhydrous ammonia (NH3) as an alternate motor fuel for both gasoline and diesel engines. They claim to have designed an electrically powered device that generates NH3 on site.

From Wikipedia: Ammonia GreenNH3 is being used with success by developers in Canada, since it can run in spark ignited or diesel engines with minor modifications,also the only green fuel to power jet engines,and despite its toxicity is reckoned to be no more dangerous than petrol or LPG.[46] It can be made from renewable electricity, and having half the density of petrol or diesel can be readily carried in sufficient quantities in vehicles. On combustion it has no emissions other than nitrogen and water vapour.

I'm familiar with anhydrous ammonia as a fertilizer used on farms. This stuff can cause some pretty serious burns, eye damage or lung damage if there's a leak, because of its massive affinity for water.

But it's fun to speculate about some sort of self-sufficient setup using solar or wind to generate fuel on demand, ready for use in a home cogen setup or vehicle.

The objections are, I think, many. I think they gloss over some of the safety concerns (would you park this in a garage or underground parkade -- no way). Also, there's a history of fertilizer being utilized in, shall we say, unconventional ways.

Here's the company website (no affiliation):
http://www.greennh3.com/nh3-facts/

-Blast

I would wait a while until the first generation anti-hydrogen fueled vehicles go into production. A few grams of anti-hydrogen (its a very lightweight fuel) would see the vehicle never require a fuel refill and would solve the problems of fuel distribution when moving over from hydrocarbon based fuel. Vehicle accidents might be a problem though.

It is even more environmentally friendly than anhydrous ammonia, as unlike all chemical fuels produces absolutely no chemical byproducts to harm the environment.

I use ammonia solution in the garden to kill slugs, even diluted a few drops can stink to high heavens. I can't imagine what a tank of pure stuff spilled would do.

LOL -- love the comments. Yeah, this stuff belongs on an industrial site, not in a soccer mom's trunk.

@Blast: Three eeks from a chemist? That's gotta be a record.

@AFLM: Recently put down a deposit on an anti-hydrogen fueled car. They keep pushing the delivery date down the road. The main selling feature: the computer voice is 100@ recycled James Doohan lines.