Decarbonizing Natural Gas Without CCUS

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is an important emissions management solution in the move to decarbonize natural gas. In the CCUS process, gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are captured, compressed, transported via pipelines, and stored – permanently – deep underground. There are many potential benefits to CCUS, but the engineering involved is highly complex and there are additional challenges around logistics, cost, and infrastructure, which mean it isn’t a feasible solution in every instance.

Methane Pyrolysis offers a compelling alternative approach to emissions management.

Managing a solid, not a gas

In the methane pyrolysis process, natural gas splits into hydrogen and solid carbon. The fundamental difference between methane pyrolysis and CCUS lies in the physical state of the carbon.

MANAGING SOLID CARBON

MANAGING CO2 WITH CCUS

HANDLING AND TRANSPORT

Solid carbon can be stored and transported using standard trucks, rail, or ships, requiring no new, specialized transport infrastructure.

Carbon dioxide (gaseous and liquid) requires capital-intensive networks of high-pressure pipelines and/or specialized transportation equipment.

STORAGE AND PERMANENCE

Solid carbon can be stored and transported using standard trucks, rail, or ships, requiring no new, specialized transport infrastructure.

CO2 sequestration facilities are only possible in areas where there is suitable geology, requiring extensive site characterization and, if built, long-term monitoring to ensure the CO2 remains captured.

VALUE AND ECONOMICS

Solid carbon is a valuable co-product of methane pyrolysis – marketable for use in applications like low-carbon cement, steelmaking, and agriculture.

While the majority of CO2 captured today is utilized for enhanced oil recovery, geological storage will be dominant by 2030. Since CO2 is expensive to move and store, it will increasingly become an ongoing operational expense.

Bringing carbon management back down to earth

For industrial users, methane pyrolysis offers an approach that derisks decarbonization. An on-site pyrolysis unit eliminates the need to connect to a non-existent or developing CO2 pipeline network. It gives facilities direct control over their carbon, turning a complex chemical and geological challenge into a straightforward materials handling process.

A practical decarbonization pathway

CCUS will remain an important technology for many applications, and in regions of the world where there is geological capacity. However, for decarbonizing natural gas, methane pyrolysis offers many sectors and jurisdictions a more practical and economically advantageous pathway. By capturing carbon as a valuable solid at the point of production, methane pyrolysis solutions eliminate the cost and complexity of managing a gaseous waste stream.

How does Ekona fit in all this?

At Ekona, we’re doing methane pyrolysis in a groundbreaking new way, using a proprietary, combustion-driven platform engineered for industrial scale. In our solution, the xCaliber™ reactor cleanly and efficiently separates the carbon atom from the hydrogen molecules before the hydrogen is used as a fuel or feedstock. The result is two valuable co-products: low-carbon hydrogen ready for industrial use, and solid carbon that can be easily handled and transported.