"Methane" technology helps carbon neutral gas
To achieve "carbon neutrality by 2050", the movement to decarbonize gas is also being accelerated. One promising method is "methane" technology, which synthesizes "methane" from CO2 and hydrogen. The goal is to decarbonize gas by replacing natural gas, which is currently the raw material for municipal gas, with this synthetic methane. In this article, we will explain the technology and potential of methaneization, as well as its future goals and challenges.
Why is it necessary to decarbonize gas?
When people hear the phrase "energy decarbonization," many people will imagine decarbonization in the power industry, where fossil fuels with high CO2 emissions such as oil and coal are not used as a source of electricity (a method of generating electricity) or electrification of automobiles. However, in reality, about 60% of energy consumed in Japan is "thermal needs", such as steam heating in "industrial areas" such as factories, and hot water and heating in "residential areas" such as homes and businesses, and decarbonization of this thermal demand is also an important issue. Heat Demand
exist in a wide range, from low temperature zones mainly in residential areas to high temperature zones used in industrial areas, and gas can generate heat to meet these different temperature zones. In addition, natural gas is an environmentally friendly energy source, emitting less CO2 when burned than coal and oil, helping to achieve low carbonization levels at the moment. Furthermore, by decarbonizing the gas itself in the future, it can also contribute to carbon neutrality.
(Source) Japan Gas Association website
Energy Usage and Temperature
(Source) Japan Gas Association website, with some modifications
There are several options for gas decarbonization technology, but the most promising is "methaneization", which is the reaction of hydrogen (H2) with carbon dioxide (CO2) to synthesize methane (CH4), the main component of natural gas. Methane emitted
CO2 when burned, but if the CO2 obtained from power plants and plants is used as raw materials for methaneization, then the CO2 emitted during combustion will be offset by the CO2 obtained, so the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere does not increase. In other words, CO2 emissions are essentially zero.
Effects of reducing CO2 emissions by methane
(Source) Japan Gas Association's "Carbon Neutrality Challenge 2050 Action Plan" with some amendments
In addition, "hydrogen" raw materials do not pose a burden to the environment if "green hydrogen" is used, which is produced by electrolysis of water with electricity derived from renewable energy. Synthetic methane produced in this way can be considered an "environmentally compatible" next-generation energy source and contributes to the decarbonization of gases.
There are other reasons why methaneization attracts attention. Since the main component of natural gas, which is the raw material for municipal gas, is methane, even if natural gas is replaced by synthetic methane, existing infrastructure and facilities such as municipal gas pipelines and gas consumption equipment can continue to be used. In other words, the methane process has excellent "economic efficiency" and is expected to promote smooth decarbonization while keeping costs low.
This means that the advantages of municipal gas, which have buried pipelines and are resilient to disasters (see "Further improving the resilience of disaster-resilient municipal gas"), can be leveraged as it is now. Ensuring a carbon-neutral energy source is highly resilient and the energy grid as an alternative to electricity also makes sense from the point of view of "energy security".
As such, methane technology contributes to the "3E" (Environment, Economic Efficiency, and Energy Security) basic principles of Japan's energy policy and has very high expectations for its potential.
Municipal gas will be carbon neutral by 2050
Methane is positioned as a "next-generation thermal energy industry" in the "Green Growth Strategy to Carbon Neutrality by 2050", which was formulated in June 2021 and is considered a key area expected to grow. Specific targets have been set for the amount of introduction and supply costs to replace natural gas with synthetic methane in the future.
Annual installation target The
target is to start use by 2030 and by that year, 1% of synthetic methane will be included in existing infrastructure (280,000 tons per year).
Replace 90% (25 million tons per year) with synthetic methane by 2050 (the remaining 10% will be carbon neutral through the direct use of hydrogen, biogas and other decarbonization methods)
Supply cost
target Goal to reach current LNG price level by 2050 The Japan Gas
Association estimates that if 90% of the city's gas is replaced by synthetic methane by the target year of 2050, this will result in a reduction of about 80 million tons of CO2 emissions per year. This equates to just under 10% of Japan's total CO2 emissions and will therefore have a significant impact on decarbonization.
Vision to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050
(Source) Japan Gas Association's "Carbon Neutrality Challenge 2050 Action Plan" with some amendments
Growth Strategy for the Next Generation Thermal Energy Industry's "Roadmap"
(Source) "Green Growth Strategy to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2050" (June 18, 2021)
Current and future challenges in the development of methane
technology So how far has the technological development progressed to put methane into use?
In 1995, Japan became the first country in the world to successfully produce synthetic methane through methane. Research and development activities have continued since then, with Hitachi Zosen and INPEX (formerly INPEX Group) conducting basic technology development as part of a project run by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) from 2017 to 2021. Osaka Gas is also conducting pioneering research on more efficient synthetic methane production.
(Source) INPEX Explanatory Document for the First Public-Private Conference to Promote Methane (Overview of the INPEX Nagaoka Mine and the Koshijihara Plant)
Methane demonstration projects are underway not only in Japan but also around the world. An example is the "Jupiter1000 Project" implemented by a French gas company in 2018. The methane process is carried out using hydrogen produced by renewable energy and CO2 generated in industrial parks. The synthetic methane produced is also fed into the pipeline.
France's "Jupiter 1000 Project"
(Source) Explanatory document of the CCR Study Group of the Public-Private Council for the Promotion of the First Methane Process (Jupiter1000 Project)
*English version
As described above, the development of the underlying technology to create methane is progressing steadily, but there are still major challenges that need to be overcome before it can be commercialized. One of them is the expansion of the facilities that produce synthetic methane. Currently, in overseas cases, the output of synthetic methane reaches tens to hundreds of Nm3 per hour, but in order to commercialize, the facilities must be scaled up to produce between 10,000 and 60,000 Nm3 per hour.
Reducing costs is also an important issue. To bring the cost of supply down to the current LNG price, it is essential to buy hydrogen and CO2 cheaply. In addition, it is necessary to conduct institutional considerations, such as establishing rules to calculate CO2 reductions on an international scale. To solve
on these issues, the "Public-Private Council for Promoting Methaneization" was established in June 2021. The council includes gas companies on the supply side and steel companies on the demand side, as well as trading companies and ships responsible for hydrogen and CO2 supply chains, research institutes such as NEDO, financial institutions such as the Japan Development Bank, academics and governments. It is expected that collaboration between various stakeholders will further promote efforts to promote methaneization in the future.
Public-Private Council Promotes Methane
What is the "Gas Supply by 2050" image?
To achieve "carbon neutrality by 2050", the gas industry is expected to use synthetic methane, which can leverage existing infrastructure, across society.
The image below depicts what gas supplies will look like in 2050. By 2050, the goal is to achieve carbon neutrality for gas through general energy optimization, focusing on synthetic methane, and promoting the use of hydrogen and biogas in the right places. Efforts on methane will need to continue to be noticed in the future.
(Source) Japan Gas Association "Carbon Neutrality Challenge 2050" Images of gas supplies by 2050 * Carbon neutral methane in the figure above is synonymous with synthetic methane
Invite partners to see the activities of Pacific Group Co., Ltd.
FanPage: https://www.facebook.com/Pacific-Group
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PacificGroupCoLt
