Ammonia Energy – Fuelling Guangzhou Maritime University’s Venture for Civil Mobility

Methanol is recognised as an excellent low-carbon fuel, offering high flame speed and high oxygen content. Ammonia, as a zero-carbon fuel, produces no CO₂ upon combustion and benefits from easy liquefaction, low storage and transport costs, and well-established supply chains. However, ammonia suffers from low burning velocity, difficult ignition, and poor combustion stability.

Dr. Xiao and Professor Valera-Medina have ingeniously combined methanol and ammonia in an internal combustion engine, leveraging their complementary physicochemical properties. Methanol’s high reactivity compensates for ammonia’s slow combustion rate, while ammonia’s carbon-free nature offsets methanol’s carbon emissions – achieving significant CO₂ reduction without sacrificing power performance. Remarkably, the pair also complement each other in corrosion prevention: methanol can be aggressive towards engine components (especially aluminium alloys), whereas ammonia induces a protective film on metal surfaces and neutralises acidic impurities such as formic acid generated by methanol’s hygroscopicity. When blended, ammonia mitigates methanol’s corrosivity. One fuel provides “punch”, the other provides “stability” – and together they resolve a long-standing durability challenge. This methanol-ammonia blend truly represents a “golden couple” on the road to decarbonising internal combustion engines, offering a practical, cost-effective, and innovative pathway from high-carbon to zero-carbon propulsion.

This research leverages the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Centre for Marine Energy Saving and Safety Supervision at Guangzhou Maritime University, which has long-standing expertise in methanol-ammonia dual-fuel combustion mechanisms, ignition optimisation, and engine combustion. This is combined with Cardiff University’s cutting-edge research on low-carbon fuel injection strategies and high efficient combustion control. The teams innovatively integrated a methanol-ammonia internal combustion engine with a battery pack on a lightweight bicycle platform, demonstrating the combined performance of combustion-driven and electric-driven modes. This reduces the dependence of transport equipment on grid charging and lowers life-cycle carbon emissions. A series of foundational collaborative studies have been published in:

Energy & Fuels. 2026, 40, 12517−12527 (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6c00035)

International Journal of Energy Research, 2026; 2026:4120752 (https://doi.org/10.1155/er/4120752)

Professor Agustin Valera-Medina commented, “This research demonstrates the application of green alcohols and ammonia in internal combustion engines coupled with electric drive on a micro-mobility platform. It provides a practical and innovative route for the large-scale deployment of new green-fuel power systems – for instance, in marine and automotive applications – and represents a promising direction for future low-carbon transport. By improving combustion systems and enhancing reconversion, emissions will be eventually fully eliminated, hence enabling clean emissions profiles suitable for civil fuelling activities.”

Low-carbon energy research team of GMU with Professor Agustin Valera-Medina. The two teams are now further optimising ammonia blending ratios and system integration schemes, aiming to promote the wider application of ammonia/methanol and other green fuels across maritime, land, aviation, and industrial sectors.

Collaborative research teams led by Dr. Xiao from Guangzhou Maritime University (GMU) and Professor Agustin Valera-Medina from the Cardiff University has tested a hybrid power system for bicycles using a methanol-ammonia fuel blend to replace conventional petrol. This marks a significant milestone in the two institutions’ joint efforts to advance sustainable low-carbon energy technologies.