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YOKOHAMA, Japan July 7 (Reuters) - Tokyo Gas Co Ltd
, Japan's biggest city gas supplier, said on Wednesday
it would start a demonstration test of methanation, a technology
to help decarbonise city gas, in Japan by the end of next March.
Methanation converts hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) into
synthesized methane, an alternative of the main component in
natural gas, and it is considered a way of using CO2 as a raw
material that could help the company achieve carbon neutrality
in 2050, it said.
Methane can be used in many ways, including as a fuel to
generate heat and electricity in power plants or at home, and as
a raw material for the chemical industry.
Tokyo Gas plans to start the pilot programme at its research
centre in Yokohama, near Tokyo, initially using hydrogen and CO2
procured from outside.
It also plans to use hydrogen generated by a water
electrolysis device from Britain's ITM Power PLC, which
it aims to install at the test site by next June, as well as CO2
emitted and captured from nearby factories or its customers in
the future.
It plans to use Hitachi Zosen Corp's methanation
device.
Tokyo Gas wants to develop the technology and a supply chain
as it can use existing natural gas infrastructure such as
pipelines, storage tanks, gas-fired power plants and tankers.
"To reduce social costs, it is important to make effective
use of existing infrastructure, and methanation is a promising
option for decarbonisation of gas energy," Kentaro Kimoto, Tokyo
Gas' senior managing executive officer, told a news conference.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi
Editing by Mark Potter)
