Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) are working on a method to reduce CO₂ emissions in industrial processes in the high-temperature range. According to Punkt4, they are investigating the potential of synthetic methane in decarbonisation. Yes – not defossilization but decarbonisation.
A research team at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa http://www.empa.ch) is developing a method to reduce CO₂ emissions in high-temperature industrial processes.
Within their project ‘Mining the Atmosphere‘ the team is developing a pyrolysis process to decarbonise high-temperature process heat. The aim is to produce efficient hydrogen, according to their own communication.
To achieve this, the carbon in the natural gas is to be separated from the hydrogen. The hydrogen is to be used to generate energy. The separated carbon is to be further developed in powder form for applications in construction and agriculture. If synthetic methane is used instead of natural gas, even negative emissions are possible.
Industry is the third largest energy consumer after buildings and mobility. High values of around 22 terawatt hours per year are generated in the metal processing and chemical industries, which are often fuelled by natural gas.
“However, it is not realistic that we will be able to cover the huge energy requirements of our industry through the domestic production of renewable hydrogen or synthetic methane,” says Christian Bach, Head of Empa’s Vehicle Drive Systems department. He sees the solution in desert regions, where the solar radiation per square metre is twice as high.
In the next two years, a demonstration plant is to be launched in the Tech Cluster in Zug to use the hydrogen to power the enamelling furnace at V-Zug AG with the hydrogen.