Coming soon to a gas station near you: Anhydrous ammonia?

You pull your car into a farm service store and tell the attendant to fill ‘er up – with anhydrous ammonia.

Instead of getting bushels per acre, you get miles per gallon.

The notion apparently isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. Serious minds are thinking that ammonia might actually be the best candidate for freeing America from its dependence on imported oil.

They include Norm Olson, project manager for the biomass energy conversion (BECON) facility, which is part of Iowa State University’s Iowa Energy Center. “It’s just sort of a grassroots effort,” he said of the thinking about ammonia.

For three years, the center has sponsored national conferences for scientists and engineers to discuss the possibilities. Among the attendees this year was Ted Hollinger, CEO of Hydrogen Energy Center Inc. of Algona, where an engine that will meet all of California’s emission standards is being developed to run on ammonia.

Des Moines Register