Idemitsu Kosan Co. (Tokyo) has launched a feasibility study of clean hydrogen production in Japan generated from waste, including municipal waste, in April. The goal is to launch a first hydrogen production facility around 2030 capable of processing 200-300 tons of waste per day.
The study is conducted in collaboration with California-based H-Cycle, LLC (CEO: Rob Morgan; hereinafter “HC”), which has developed a thermal conversion process using heat and electricity to transform waste into hydrogen with minimal emissions. HC is an investee of the Azimuth V Energy Evolution Fund, an investment fund launched by Azimuth Capital Management (headquarters: Alberta, Calgary, Canada) specializing in technology-enabled energy transition opportunities. Idemitsu has committed to invest in the fund in November 2021.
Hydrogen, which does not emit CO2 when burned, is widely expected to be deployed at large scale as a next-generation energy source to realize a carbon-neutral society. In the future, Japan is expected to rely on imports for most of the hydrogen procurement, and to be used mostly by industrial facilities in coastal areas. Widespread use of hydrogen will require securing inexpensive raw materials and reducing supply costs by building a supply chain enabling mass manufacturing and mass transportation.
The hydrogen production now being considered by Idemitsu and HC will use waste discharged in Japan, including municipal waste, as raw material. The system converts these waste products into high value-added clean hydrogen using an integrated gasification and plasma polishing process for which HC holds exclusive rights to deploy in Japan.
In conventional hydrogen production, fossil fuels such as natural gas are used as raw materials. In production with waste, there is no need to use fossil fuels as raw materials.
The hydrogen production now being considered can process a wide variety of wastes as raw materials, not limited to household waste. Biomass feedstock such as food waste offsets CO2 emissions during hydrogen production, making this a production method with lower CO2 emissions than conventional hydrogen production. Furthermore, by sequestrating and utilizing the highly concentrated CO2 emitted during the production process, even cleaner hydrogen production becomes possible, and this also contributes to reducing CO2 emissions associated with waste disposal.
By installing this integrated gasification and plasma polishing process as a waste treatment facility in each region to produce hydrogen, it is possible to reduce transportation costs and develop supply bases for hydrogen that is locally produced and consumed. We aim to spread efficient waste treatment technology and realize “local production for local consumption of energy.
The clean hydrogen produced is expected to be used not only for industrial and mobility applications, such as fuel cell vehicles, but also as raw material for synthetic fuels.
Aiming to construct an initial hydrogen production facility around 2030 that will process 200–300 tons of waste per day, Idemitsu will going forward seek the cooperation of local governments and determine partner companies for equipment operation and maintenance.