Hydrogen production from methane hydrate with sequestering of carbon dioxide

Abstract

Methane hydrate exists in large amounts in certain locations, in sea sediments and the geological structures below them and below artic regions permafrost, at low temperature and high pressure. It has recently been shown that there are suitable methods for producing methane, perhaps on a floating platform. There it could be reformed in an endothermic process to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Some of the methane could be used to provide heat energy for a power plant on the platform to provide all needed power and support for the reforming process. After separation, hydrogen is the valuable and transportable product. All carbon dioxide produced on the platform could be separated from other gases and then sequestered, in one of several possible forms. In this way, hydrogen could be made available without the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and the hydrogen could be an enabling step toward a world hydrogen economy, free of particles and carbon dioxide pollution.