IHI Conducts “Let’s Learn About Decarbonization! Ammonia Is Amazing!” Outreach Classes in Koto Ward’s Ariake Nishi Gakuen
From September 24 to 26, 2025, IHI conducted “Let’s Learn About Decarbonization! Ammonia Is Amazing!” outreach classes for 157 sixth-grade students in Koto Ward’s Ariake Nishi Gakuen (an integrated elementary school and junior high school), which is located near IHI’s Toyosu Head Office. Over the course of the three days of classes, 24 IHI employees taught as instructors or participated as experiment assistants.
The classes were taught by employees involved in IHI’s carbon solution business. The materials used in the classes were created under the supervision of Project Associate Professor Kazuya Yoshimura of Ochanomizu University’s Science & Education Center, and Project Associate Professor Yoshimura also took part in the classes in a support capacity.
The classes began with an explanation of the mechanisms of global warming and decarbonization (measures taken to combat global warming). This was followed by a hands-on experiment in which the students learned the principles of power generation using a hand-cranked generator and a thermal power generation model. With the thermal power generation model, students boiled water in a flask to produce steam, which turned a turbine and lit an LED light. Cries of excitement could be heard from the students when the LED lights lit up.
The students then performed an experiment in which they generated and burned ammonia. Before the experiment began, the students learned why the properties of ammonia make it an important potential next-generation energy source that does not release carbon dioxide. The students then performed a safe and carefully controlled experiment in which they generated ammonia, collected it in a test tube, and ignited it. The gas produced by burning the ammonia was then passed through limewater to demonstrate that it contained no carbon dioxide because the water did not become cloudy. The students reacted with excitement as they saw these phenomena unfold before their very eyes. Through the series of experiments, the students gained a deeper understanding of why ammonia is considered an environmentally-friendly fuel.
The final section of the class was an explanation of IHI’s demonstration testing of thermal power generation using ammonia. The students were deeply interested to see how what they had learned in class was being applied at a large scale in demonstration testing performed in an actual power plant.
The class ended with an exchange of ideas about what we can do to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It provided an excellent opportunity for the students to think of the decarbonization efforts they could make in their own day-to-day lives, such as using public transportation or reusable shopping bags.
Feedback from the students who participated included the following: “It made me like science,” “We got to use tools and materials that we don’t get to use in school classes, so it was a lot of fun,” “It made me want to take better care of the environment in my everyday life,” “I didn’t know much about ammonia going in, but through the experiment I learned about all kinds of properties of ammonia,” and “I was surprised to learn that ammonia could be used to generate power.”
The IHI Group will continue to foster a greater understanding of its business activities and help develop the talent of tomorrow through its outreach classes.