Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars is one of the top long term goals of the global automotive industry. Billions of dollars have been spent in developing hydrogen powered fuel cell cars. The issue of hydrogen transportation and storage is a leading technical barrier to commercialisation.

Acta has successfully developed a new catalyst that will produce hydrogen from ammonia. Ammonia is one of the most practical hydrogen carriers available and is already one of the most widely used and transported chemicals in the world. It is far easier and safer to handle than pure hydrogen and contains no carbon which produces greenhouse gases.

Acta's breakthrough means that a fuel cell car could be able to store ammonia in its tank. Acta’s onboard ammonia electrolyser catalyst will break the ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen. The hydrogen will feed the fuel cell that will generate the electricity to power both the car and the electrolyser. This is possible because Acta’s electrolyser uses less power than is generated by the fuel cell, unlike a water electrolyser that uses more power than is generated by the fuel cell.

Acta demonstrated its working ammonia electrolyser catalyst at the world’s largest fuel cell exhibition: Fuel Cell Expo in Tokyo. The catalyst, which was developed at customer request, aroused significant interest from global automotive companies as well as from other hydrogen users. Prototype catalysts have already been despatched to interested parties and trials are underway.

Acta’s ammonia electrolyser catalyst was subject to a patent application in January 2007.

Paolo Bert, Acta Chief Executive, commented: “Hydrogen supply is the biggest barrier to the introduction of viable automotive fuel cells. We are very excited to offer a new and practical solution to this critical area and we have been delighted by initial customer interest in our ground breaking technology, especially from the global automotive industry.”