NW Natural, facing ‘electrify everything’ headwind, embraces Bill Gates-backed tech
"It can go anywhere on our distribution system," Anderson said, gesturing back to
the Modern Hydrogen installation. "So as we prove this out, Tony and his team are
going to start going into commercial mode, you can do more and more of this on
the system."
The broad process heading for Modern Hydrogen's technology is methane
pyrolysis, where high heat (800 degrees Celsius and up) is used to split the CH4
methane molecule into 2H2 and a solid form of carbon. A recent published review
of the process concluded that "the safety, reliability and durability of pyrolysis
technologies remain open to improvements."
Yielding high grade carbon is one challenge for methane pyrolysis. Pan, who was at
the Portland event, touted the value of the carbon the process the Modern
Hydrogen process leaves behind. He and Anderson triumphantly held up a jar of
the black material at the lectern at the NW Natural ceremony.
