Australia’s Guarantee of Origin Scheme: consultation on scheme design, emissions accounting and renewable electricity certification

Production of hydrogen from the pyrolysis of methane should be included into the GO scheme.

Methane pyrolysis can immediately produce hydrogen with 0 kg CO2 / kg H2 using renewable electricity and natural gas. When using renewable electricity and biomethane the process is carbon negative removing -10.9 kg CO2 / kg H2.

As gas companies are held to account for their emissions losses, the well to gate emissions associated with the gas production will continue to improve.

Incorporating this technology into the GO scheme will give hydrogen off takers confidence when they purchase this emission free hydrogen they can appropriately account for their emissions reductions and report as such under the Safeguard or NGER schemes. The investment for the production plant is dependent on the offtake agreements being in place, so it is vital this production pathway is added now so it can have a real impact on 2030 and 2050 emission targets.

This product will allow large scale emission free hydrogen production leveraging existing gas infrastructure investments. It has taken the gas and LNG industries almost 60 years to build out the infrastructure that is in place today. Building new infrastructure to move another molecule will also take time. It makes sense to support technologies that can use these assets now and produce emission free hydrogen. Industrial scale hydrogen and clean ammonia production can be quickly scaled up using Australia's extensive gas network and supply. Clean ammonia is already being purchased by Japan from the United States (blue ammonia).

Methane pyrolysis also generates a valuable, low emission, carbon byproduct that has the potential to be further processed into high value products used in battery manufacture such as anodes and other graphite based materials. The carbon black market is also expected to tighten as traditional sources from coal and hydrocarbon combustion (with high GHG emissions) are set to reduce while rubber manufacturing is expected to increase.

N.B, the United States already recognize methane pyrolysis as a production pathway. As stated in the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap released June 2023, "A third type of natural gas-based production, methane pyrolysis, uses high heat to split methane into hydrogen and solid carbon – this can be an attractive option since the solid carbon can provide a value-added co-product for applications such as industrial rubber and tire manufacturing and for specialty products such as inks, catalysts, plastics, and coatings.". "In 2021, DOE’s LPO announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee to Monolith™ Inc. (formerly Monolith Nebraska, LLC) for approximately $1 billion to deploy methane pyrolysis technology at their Oliver Creek facility in Hallam, Nebraska. Hydrogen produced at this facility will be used to produce ammonia fertilizer. Deployment of this facility is also expected to create approximately 1,000 jobs during construction and 75 high-paying, highly skilled, clean energy jobs to support facility operations."

In addition to the construction of large scale H2 plants each with a value of several hundred million dollars, export potential of clean ammonia, supporting local industries, the associated high value IP and knowledge that will be generated by companies such as Hazer Group and Unconventional Gas Solutions who are promoting the technology here in Australia, is important to consider. If the technology develops here in Australia, this is where the knowledge base will reside and it will be from Australia that the technology will be deployed globally. This will lead to the creation of world class, high value jobs here in Australia.

H2 product from methane pyrolysis was developed by Exxon in the 1950s. Companies such as Monolith are well advanced at commercial plant scale. As of 2021 were already at TRL9. Hazer reports they are at TRL6/7. UGS is at TRL5/6.
Herein a snapshot of various companies commercializing methane pyrolysis technology;
BASF, Ekona, Hazer Group, Hycamite, Susteon, Monloth, NuIonic, HiiROC, Nanoplazz, Spark, MAAT Energy, KIT TNO, CZero, Shell, PARC, Thiozen, ETCH, Syzygy, New Wave Hydrogen.

Yes. The United States and Europe already have framework in place that supports the implementation of various low carbon hydrogen production methods, including methane pyrolysis, and do not focus only on water electrolysis.

The U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap released June 2023 (attachment included), supports the adoption of technologies based on their emissions, well to gate (<4 kg CO2/kg H2) and within process (<2 kg CO2/kg H2) as opposed to specific technologies. It recognizes there are many paths that can be taken to create clean hydrogen. Clean hydrogen is defined by the emissions and if meets the criteria is considered "clean".

In Europe TUV have implemented a hydrogen certification scheme, TÜV Rheinland Standard H2.21. Refer their website. https://www.tuv.com/landingpage/en/hydrogen-technology/main-navigation/certification-%E2%80%9Cgreen-hydrogen%E2%80%9D/
The product carbon footprint is calculated according to;
ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse gases, Carbon footprint of products, Requirements and guidelines for quantification
ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management, Life cycle assessment, Principles and framework
ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management, Life cycle assessment, Requirements and guidelines

TUV H2.21 states "Low Carbon Hydrogen addresses all hydrogen production routes and therefore enables all technologies and processes to be subjected to certification. The reduction target must be at least 70% of the Comparator Value (94 g CO2-eq/MJ)...Turquoise Hydrogen: Low Carbon Hydrogen is produced by methane pyrolysis and the resulting elemental carbon can be permanently fixed."

Yes. The clean hydrogen produced by methane pyrolysis is an ideal drop in replacement input for existing fertilizer and ammonia production and nickel production plants. Furthermore, the green steel industry requires extremely large volumes of clean hydrogen for which could be served by methane pyrolysis. The "clean" solid carbon produced can be an input for various manufacturing processes including batteries etc.

Currently industrial hydrogen is produced via SMR and generates large volumes of CO2. The time taken to implement CO2 capture, post combustion, and storage solutions will take time. The cost of water electrolysis is too high for industry to absorb, and the time required for those costs to reduce is uncertain. Methane pyrolysis is ready to deploy with lower risk and competitively priced, supporting Australia and its industries to meet its commitment to cut carbon emissions by 43% by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050.