Methane Produced from Captured CO2 in Yokohama Trial

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, August 1, 2023

YOKOHAMA ― Tokyo Gas Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. have launched an experiment to produce methane, raw material of city gas, by capturing CO2 emitted from a waste incineration plant.

CO2 can be combined with hydrogen to produce methane in a process called methanation, which is expected aid in decarbonization.

In the experiment, MHI’s equipment captures CO2 generated at a waste incineration plant in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, the city having also signed onto the project. The CO2 is then transported by truck to a nearby Tokyo Gas research facility, where it is converted into methane.

About 200 kilograms of CO2 is collected per day and used to synthesize enough methane to supply about 260 average households for one day.

Efforts to capture CO2 and use it for fuel and other purposes is called carbon capture and utilization, or CCU. Along with carbon capture and storage, where collected CO2 is put into the ground or a seabed, CCU is expected to be an important part of decarbonization efforts. However, the approach has faced hurdles such as over how to use captured CO2 and the cost of installing equipment.