CO₂-Methanation Technology Development to Decarbonize City Gas

Overview

Osaka Gas has a process technology, which the company once used to manufacture city gas from a petroleum-based raw material. Leveraging this technology, the company is taking on the challenge of developing technology to produce carbon-neutral city gas, with the raw material shifting from the petroleum-based one to CO₂ and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.

Background

Methane serves as an energy carrier for hydrogen and can use the existing infrastructure of city gas. Due to this feature, the material is said to be easily deployed in fields where electrification is difficult. Meanwhile, the Green Growth Strategy announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies sets the goal of 1% injection of synthetic methane into existing infrastructure by 2030.

Osaka Gas has catalyst technology that can produce synthetic methane in an energy-efficient manner and design expertise related to scaling up, which the company has acquired since it was manufacturing city gas and alternative natural gas from petroleum-based raw materials. Using these engineering capabilities, Osaka Gas contributes to the technology development project pursued jointly with INPEX. [Project subsidized by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO): Technology for realizing pipeline injection using a large CO₂-methanation system under the development of technologies for using CO₂ for gaseous fuels as part of the development of technologies for realizing CO₂ emissions reduction and utilization of “Development of Technologies for Carbon Recycling and Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation”]

What will be done in the NEDO project

Technology Development Description

We plan to conduct a demonstration experiment during a period spanning from the second half of fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025 to produce synthetic methane using CO₂ collected from the INPEX Nagaoka Field Office and to inject the produced synthetic methane into the city gas pipeline of INPEX. The CO₂-methanation facilities to be developed in this project are expected to have a synthetic methane production capacity of approximately 400 Nm3/h, which is currently one of the largest in the world.

Prospects in Detail

We will be considering a commercial-scale demonstration project in a country such as Australia, where green hydrogen can be produced from renewable energy at a low cost, and importing carbon-neutral methane to Japan with a view to commercialization on a scale of 60,000 Nm³/h.

Future business image (Source: INPEX Corporation)