For over four decades, Greg Vezina has been warning that we’re backing the wrong horse. As CEO of Hydrofuel Canada, his message remains unchanged: ammonia is the real clean fuel, not hydrogen, not batteries, and not biofuels. In a world awash with climate pledges and costly techno-optimism, Vezina’s claim stands out: “We can produce ammonia fuel at a quarter of the cost of green hydrogen — and make it safer, cleaner, and cheaper than diesel.”
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It’s not a fringe theory. With his MAPS (Micro Ammonia Production System) tech now at pilot-commercial scale, Vezina is betting on decentralized ammonia synthesis that undercuts the fossil-fuel incumbents on both cost and emissions. Backed by patents and university collaborations, MAPS utilizes electrochemical and thermochemical processes to generate ammonia using electricity — and unlike the Haber-Bosch process, it operates at room temperature and pressure. “We’re at 85% efficiency. We’ll get into the 90s,” he insists, positioning MAPS as the first serious challenger to century-old ammonia production systems.
But why hasn’t the world moved? According to Vezina, inertia is entrenched. “The ammonia industry makes 40% profit on revenue. It’s more profitable than drug dealing or prostitution in Amsterdam,” he quips. For major producers, there’s simply no incentive to disrupt themselves, especially when fertilizer demand remains a cash cow. Worse, he says, subsidies and government grant schemes delay innovation. “We don’t take a dime in public funding. I’ll bury subsidized competitors by being cheaper.”
His frustration with hydrogen hype is especially pointed. Electrolyzers, he argues, are stuck around 60% efficiency and are incompatible with peak power dynamics. “By the time you go from electricity to hydrogen to ammonia, you’ve lost over half the energy,” he says. “And then they want to ship it across the ocean at $9 a kilo?” By contrast, he claims Hydrofuel’s systems can produce ammonia and ship it for less than $3/kilo — all-in, with no subsidies.
Even “green” fuels like ethanol draw his ire: “It increases global food prices by 40% and causes 50 million people a year to starve. But it’s labeled clean.” For Vezina, the only real metric that matters is lifecycle cost — carbon, social, and economic. That includes lithium mined by children in Africa for EVs, and the coal plants powering battery factories. He wants full cradle-to-grave accounting on every energy option and an end to subsidies. “Let capitalism work — honestly.”
Despite decades of pushback, Vezina is unshaken. He sees parallels in past revolutions: the rise of Brazilian ethanol, the fall of landline monopolies, the decentralized success of hybrid cars. “Ammonia engines are already replacing diesel in shipping and remote power. Fertilizer systems are being reimagined. And in ten years, blue ammonia won’t exist.” He’s convinced that the same transformation is inevitable across energy and agriculture. The only question is who moves first — and who gets left behind when consumers realize there’s a cheaper, cleaner option.
