The Heavy Shipping Industry Ditches Diesel

Dear Reader,

The world’s heavy shipping industry is in the process of switching to a brand-new fuel, and its choice could have major repercussions on the fuel you put into the next car you buy. 

At least, that’s what we should expect if history is any indicator. 

For the last two centuries, watercraft have led the way in propulsion technology. 

Steam power was first put to use on the water in 1783, when French inventor Claude-François-Dorothée, marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans, used the power of expanding H2O to turn a pair of paddle wheels, thus imparting motion to his Pyroscaphe — the world’s first steamboat. 

It wasn’t until two decades later that steam was powering locomotives. 

Fast-forward more than a century and the same pattern repeated itself with diesel. 

Mercedes introduced the first diesel automobile, the 260 D, in 1936. 

But diesel wasn’t designed to move passenger cars. It was designed for heavier duty work, which is why the first diesel truck — also a Mercedes product — saw the light of day in 1924. 

The first diesel-powered locomotives, built by MAN and Voith, didn’t arrive until the mid-1930s. 

The first diesel watercraft, however, a 245-foot riverboat called the Vandal, made its debut voyage decades earlier, in 1903. 

Since then, diesel and diesel electric power has been the mainstay of global shipping, but now, as we get set to round the corner to the second quarter of the 21st century, things are changing again. 

History Repeating?

Back in 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a branch of the U.N., set a goal of reducing the industry’s carbon footprint by half by the middle of the century. 

That’s more than a tall order considering the growing tonnage of the world’s heaviest ocean-going vessels, but the world’s biggest shipbuilders have responded. 

Right now a number of different technologies are being auditioned as the future power source of global shipping, and one is rapidly rising to become the heir apparent to marine diesel. 

Green ammonia fuel — which is not only carbon-neutral but can be formulated on-site with nothing more than electricity, water, and air using portable, scalable ammonia synthesizers — will likely be turning 20-ton propellers and impellers for the balance of the 21st century. 

That much is clear, but the point I started with is that maritime propulsion has historically predicted even bigger trends — trends that leave the water and extend all the way to your driveway. 

If green ammonia is adopted across the board by global shipping, what’s to stop it from doing the same with, say, land transportation?

The Perfect Energy Storage Medium

Ammonia fuel, after all, produces nothing but water vapor and traces of nitrogen when it’s burned. It requires no special engines. In fact, you could run it in your existing car (unless of course you drive an EV), with just some minor bolt-on modifications. 

And now that modern production methodology allows for the clean, carbon-free creation of ammonia, the obvious question emerges: Why bother with anything else?

Why bother with electric vehicles and their troublesome lithium batteries? EVs run off the power grid, which in the U.S. is 70% fossil fuel-driven… So who are we fooling?

That’s the story the mainstream media aren't writing about, and you probably already know the reason why. It doesn’t comport with the narrative that the future is going to be battery-powered — the one we’ve been fed for the last decade and a half. 

But that’s the reality. In a logical world, your next car wouldn't be electric. It would be powered by an internal combustion engine that burns standard fuel as well as ammonia, allowing you to switch back and forth. 

No need to build millions of charging stations across the country. No need for everyone to go out and buy an overgrown version of the remote-control car you played with as a kid.

No need to spend billions of dollars on new and specialized infrastructure.

The thing is… Despite what the news reports, industry typically makes the financially viable moves. 

Hype and Illusion Only Last So Long

Which means while the EV sector rises and ultimately crashes based on the mood of greedy speculators, green ammonia will simply make sense on every level. 

I know this is a bit of cognitive dissonance, but trust me, there’s a lot more to this story that will have you scratching your head. 

Did you know that ammonia fuel powered the fastest plane to ever take to the skies? 

It was also put into action during WWII when diesel became scarce. 

And yet today, you hardly hear about it… unless you know where to look. 

Keith Kohl, my colleague and chief editor of the Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity investment advisories, has been studying the subject for years. 

With these latest developments from the world’s shipping sector, however, it looks like the Ammonia revolution is on the cusp of going from quiet to very, very loud. 

You Only Get One Chance to Do It Right

Keith believes that this is the time to make your bets on the future of ammonia — especially given recent turmoil on the markets. 

You just aren’t going to get the kinds of bargains we’re seeing today at any point in the future. 

And the ammonia story itself is never going to be more underbought. 

In the coming months, you’ll probably start hearing about it in the financial press, probably as major oil companies like Exxon and BP begin making their own inroads into alternative fuel. 

But to lock in ground-floor positioning with the most prospective plays in the field, you’ll need specialized information. 

Keith’s found it and is now sharing it with his readers for the first time. 

To get your own exclusive introduction to the most powerful methods for leveraging the ammonia bull market, check out his presentation right here.

Fortune favors the bold,

Alex Koyfman

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