Nowadays, governments and private enterprises around the world are working hard to promote a transition to low-carbon or carbon-free societies, and part of those efforts involves developing new fuels. One fuel, ammonia, has been gaining quite a bit of attention recently due to the fact that it does not release any carbon dioxide (CO₂) when burned. Inspired by his experiences and encounters in Europe, Atsushi Okazaki has been trying to introduce ammonia to Japan's energy providers. What motivates him to continue this challenge?

Currently, I am working on a project that is designed to incorporate ammonia into Japan's energy mix by using it as a fuel for power generation. Burning it results in no CO₂ emissions, so it has great potential to help us make the shift to a so-called “carbon-free” society.

European countries are at the forefront of carbon-free progress, and moves there to scrap coal-fired power plants that release large amounts of CO₂ are rapidly gaining momentum. But in countries like Japan, which has low energy self-sufficiency, and emerging countries that need to prioritize their economic growth, simply abandoning coal in one fell swoop is next to impossible. Ammonia offers us a way to make the transition at a more realistic pace. By mixing it with coal, we can continue to use our existing infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a stepwise fashion. Furthermore, progress is being made in R&D to “crack” ammonia, a process that separates the hydrogen from the nitrogen. The hydrogen can then be used as is to fuel power generation or supplied to power producers across Japan.

• My team members in London.

What inspired me to get involved in eco-business was a posting to London in my sixth year with MC. I was struck by just how environmentally aware Europeans are. Furthermore, governments of European countries tend back up their idealistic messaging on the health of our planet by setting down concrete environmental policies, such as fines for businesses than emit too much CO₂ or subsidies for purchasing clean energy or energy-saving homes. During my time in London, I realized how well they have leveraged those policies to make both citizens and businesses more conscious of environmental issues. I spent much of the second half of that assignment visiting different countries in Europe to take part in investigations, hearings and evaluations on next-generation fuels, work that really broadened my knowledge on cutting-edge developments in green business. I now have a much better understanding of the global push to decarbonize.

I have also learned a lot from my senior colleagues and superiors. In my fourth year with MC, I was thinking about giving up the pursuit of new projects because of some concerns about risks that had been raised internally. But when my boss heard this, he said to me, “You need to be considering why you are involved in this work in the first place.” His words made me realize that instead of thinking idealistically about the end game, or in other words how significant the businesses would be to society and the environment if they were successful, I needed to be focused on overcoming the more immediate roadblocks to progress. Since then, regardless of what projects I have been involved in, I have always tried to think about their benefits to society and future potential, which drives me to seek challenges rather than reasons to quit.

There are quite a few roadblocks to overcome before we can use ammonia as a fuel for power generation, including its cost and its distribution, but on the other side of those roadblocks lies a path to a new and brighter society. I want to help leave future generations with a sustainable planet, so my immediate focus is to keep looking forward and concentrating on my work. One day, when my children are all grown up, I want them to appreciate ammonia power and take pride in the fact that their dad helped to make it happen.