Modern Hydrogen, a start-up specializing in decarbonizing natural gas at the meter in order to deliver clean fuel for sectors traditionally difficult to decarbonize, set out to prove its hypothesis: stripping solid carbon from natural gas before combustion is a more practical approach to decarbonizing than managing gaseous CO2 — and can reduce the amount of harmful CO2.
Previous methods of reducing CO2 after combustion have proven complicated and expensive, according to Mothusi Pahl, Modern Hydrogen's vice president of business development and government affairs.
This new method substantially reduces costs as well as the embodied CO2 of asphalt, which contributes to the decarbonization of the natural gas sector, a known CO2 emitter.
"Capturing carbon before combusting natural gas — not after — could make decarbonization easier," Pahl said. "Nobody else has figured out how to decarbonize at the point of use."
In the process of developing a way to deliver "energy with a CO2 footprint that looks like renewables," they discovered a way to reduce the environmental impact of paving roads with asphalt —one that sequesters carbon for centuries. It also happens to enhance the quality of asphalt.
