JAPAN NEWS



 

Osaka Gas Co. has completed construction of an experimental facility for a technology to synthesize methane from water and carbon dioxide, the company announced.

The technology is called solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) methanation, and it can synthesize methane, a major component of city gas, more efficiently than existing technology.

If put to practical use, the volume of electric power consumed in producing methane gas could be lower than with conventional methods, and thus production costs would be reduced.

SOEC methanation technology uses electric power from renewable energy sources. By electrolyzing water and CO2 at high temperatures, methane gas is produced from the hydrogen generated.

The heat generated by synthesizing methane will be reused in the electrolysis process, thus reducing energy loss.

Unlike conventional methods to produce methane, it is unnecessary to procure hydrogen gas from elsewhere.

Osaka Gas is enthusiastic about the production of such synthetic methane, termed e-methane, produced with renewable energy.

The experimental facility built in Konohana Ward, Osaka, combines equipment for the electrolysis of water vapor, which was developed by Toshiba Corp., with equipment for synthesizing methane, developed by Osaka Gas.

The facility is capable of producing an amount of methane gas equivalent to that consumed by 200 ordinary households.

Osaka Gas President Masataka Fujiwara said, “By introducing SOEC methanation, we want to accelerate the proliferation and expansion of the use of e-methane.”