The use of ammonia as a source of hydrogen for fuel cells has received little attention until now. Ammonia offers several advantages over hydrogen as a fuel and is produced commercially in massive quantities and as a biogas. This paper describes the results of a solid oxide fuel cell-based system running on ammonia and compares the performance with respect to hydrogen. A novel catalyst concept has been devised and employed with success. Results indicate that the ammonia performance, using the catalyst is comparable to hydrogen suggesting ammonia can be treated as an attractive alternative fuel. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.