Fortescue says ‘green methane’ may solve hydrogen export dilemma – Bloomberg.
Fortescue Future Industries, one of the leading proponents of hydrogen, is exploring a more efficient way to ship the zero-emissions fuel overseas by using “green methane.”
Green methane — essentially synthetic natural gas made with renewable energy — is a promising technology that would avoid the expense and technical difficulties of liquefying pure hydrogen, according to FFI chief executive officer Mark Hutchinson. It would also allow the Australian company to leverage the infrastructure of the country’s large liquefied natural gas industry.
Andrew Forrest, the billionaire chairman of FFI parent Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., predicted in March that pure liquid hydrogen would become “the world’s largest ocean trade.” FFI aims to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030, much of it in Australia, although no major projects have yet reached financial closure.
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But Hutchinson said in an interview this week that liquefying pure hydrogen might not “be the smartest thing” because of the challenges of shipping it to promising markets like Germany and Japan.
Most emerging hydrogen exporters plan to combine hydrogen with nitrogen and ship as ammonia, according to BloombergNEF, which the FFI is also looking into. According to Hutchinson, green methane may have advantages over ammonia.
Hydrogen must be cooled and stored at minus 252 degrees Celsius, far colder than the minus 162 degrees at which methane – the main component of natural gas – liquefies. Also, liquid hydrogen takes up much more space per unit of energy than LNG or ammonia, increasing costs, he said.
Mark Hutchinson said:
You basically add CO2 to hydrogen to make methane, then remove the hydrogen at the destination and recycle the CO2.
“It’s interesting because you can use existing LNG plants and ships.” Australia is the second largest LNG exporter in the world and has significant existing infrastructure.
But green methane also has serious challenges. Methane and CO2 are both greenhouse gases, so leakage must be prevented. There is also the question of where the CO2 comes from.
“How does it work, where does the CO2 originally come from, can you really recycle it without a leak?” said Hutchinson. “All this work is being done.” He added that in the short term, FFI’s hydrogen would likely be exported as ammonia.
Highlights:
- Proposal would allow FFI to repurpose LNG infrastructure
- But leakage risk and where to source CO2 remain key questions
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Fortescue Says ‘Green Methane’ May Solve Hydrogen Export Dilemma, December 21, 2022
