Hydrogen is almost always found as part of another compound, such as water (H2O) or methane (CH4), and it must be separated into pure hydrogen (H2) for use in combined heat and power applications such as Fuel Cells, Reciprocating engines and Gas Turbines.

Hydrogen can be produced from diverse, domestic resources, including fossil fuels, biomass, and water electrolysis with electricity. The environmental impact and energy efficiency of hydrogen depend on how it is produced.

There are several ways to produce hydrogen , the two most common and widely spread methods are:

1. Natural Gas Reforming/Gasification: It is an advanced and mature production process that builds upon the existing natural gas pipeline delivery infrastructure. This method is the cheapest, most efficient, and most common. Today, 95% of the hydrogen produced in the United States, and 50% of the hydrogen produced globally is made by natural gas reforming in large central plants.

The main component of natural gas is methane (CH4), using thermal processes like steam reformation, hydrogen can be produced from it. The below Figure shows a simplified diagram of hydrogen production process from NG reforming. Depending on the whether the CO2 emissions from the reforming process is captured or not, the produced hydrogen is either called Blue or Grey Hydrogen, respectively (Source: pubs.rsc.org).

2. Electrolysis: In this method, an electric current splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. If the electricity is produced by renewable sources, such as solar or wind, the resulting hydrogen will be considered renewable as well (also called Green Hydrogen), and has numerous emissions benefits. Power-to-hydrogen projects are taking off, using excess renewable electricity, when available, to make hydrogen through electrolysis. Today, dedicated production of hydrogen from electrolysis is ~0.03% of all hydrogen produced globally (Source: energy.gov).

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a pipeline-quality gas that is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas (NG). RNG is essentially biogas (the gaseous product of the decomposition of organic matter) that has been processed to purity standards. This processed biogas is then used as a replacement for conventional NG in combined heat and power applications.

Renewable Natural Gas is produced from various biomass sources through a biochemical process, such as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The figure below describes the process of anaerobic digestion. With minor cleanup, RNG can be used to generate electricity and heat in combined heat and power applications.

There are three main sources of organic matter that produce RNG:

1. Landfills: Landfills are designated locations for the disposal of waste collected from residential, industrial, and commercial entities. The digestion process takes place in the ground rather than in an anaerobic digester.
2. Livestock Operations: Animal manure is collected and delivered to an anaerobic digester to stabilize and optimize methane production.
3. Wastewater Treatment: RNG is produced during the digestion of solids removed in the wastewater treatment process.

Other sources of Renewable Natural Gas include organic waste from industrial, institutional, and commercial entities, such as food manufacturing and wholesalers, supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals, and educational facilities (Source: energy.gov).

The short answer is that hydrogen and Renewable Natural Gas provide benefits in terms of fuel security, economic revenues or savings, local air quality and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

1. Economic benefits: The development of hydrogen and RNG projects can benefit the local economy through the construction of processing infrastructure, and sale of Packaged CHP solutions. National, state and local incentives may be available depending on the end use, such as credits for production of HYDROGEN and RNG used for CHP applications. These financial incentives can provide additional economic drivers for project development.
2. Local air quality benefits: Replacing traditional diesel or gasoline backup generators with hydrogen and RNG fueled CHP solutions can significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, resulting in local air quality benefits.
3. Greenhouse gas emission reductions: The major benefits of RNG production are that it takes methane already naturally produced from waste and prevents it from going into the atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas, instead turning it into a valuable carbon-neutral fuel. Similarly, hydrogen has the potential for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental and health benefits are also seen at the source of hydrogen production if derived from low- or zero-emission sources, such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy and fossil fuels with advanced emission controls and carbon sequestration.

When it comes to CHP projects, the major deciders in the feasibility phase are:

1. The GHG emissions of the Gas fueling the CHP system as opposed to the local utility provider announced emissions.
2. The financial savings associated with operating the CHP project on the chosen Gas type as opposed to using the local utility provider Electricity tariffs from the local utility provider to provide for the building electricity loads.

Because of the abundance of NG reserves and the commodity prices that have made for high consumer expectations, it is the cheapest option for CHP projects supply.

On the down side, conventional NG has the highest GHG emissions as opposed to RNG and hydrogen. In some cases, using the utility provider electricity, has less carbon footprint impact than using CHP. This is where hydrogen and RNG as fuels come in.

For example, there are currently very affordable options of blending NG with RNG and/or hydrogen. For instance, if you are a developer, you can exercise the feasibility of your CHP project by using different percentages of RNG blend with Natural Gas.

The cost of RNG depends on the blend you choose. You can designate 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 percent of the natural gas you use as RNG. You’ll also receive a credit on the BC carbon tax on your bill, depending on the blend you choose.

(Source: fortisbc.com).

Today, there aren’t any options for purchasing hydrogen through pipeline delivery from an independent provider as with RNG. But there are ongoing initiatives by the Department of Energy to:

1. address technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines under the name “HyBlend”, and
2. bring together stakeholders to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage across multiple sectors under the name “H2@Scale”.

The current solution for CHP applications is to account for hydrogen delivery and onsite storage, or onsite hydrogen production systems to fuel your CHP system. There are many hydrogen delivery and storage solutions suppliers, and commercially available onsite hydrogen production products that you can shop for.

Unfortunately, these options for hydrogen supply make for higher prices than RNG and natural gas and must be very carefully studied on a project-by-project basis. Federal and state incentives/funding for Hydrogen projects is also available which help with project financial feasibility.

In 2019, the supply of RNG and hydrogen is about 1.5% of the total global gas grid supply (Source: igu.org). But, according to a study lead by the RNG coalition related to the projections of Paris Agreement, RNG and hydrogen could share up 25% of the total global gas grid supply in 2050.

According to a series of studies to analyze RNG potential conducted by government research agencies and industry research departments, RNG can meet up to 20% of today’s United States natural gas demand.

(Source: duke.edu, Evaluating Market Conditions for Renewable Natural Gas and Clean Hydrogen)

RNG and hydrogen are important, and we need to do what we can to increase their adoption in CHP applications. RNG and hydrogen are bound to gradually take over a large portion of natural gas. Studies have shown the untapped potential of both Hydrogen and RNG.

The US has significant untapped RNG feedstock reserves capable of meeting nearly a quarter of annual natural gas demand. The clean hydrogen market is primed to rapidly expand over the next few years due to customer demand for decarbonization solutions and international efforts to scale up deployment.

RNG and hydrogen offer a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly option, and they’re becoming increasingly cost-competitive. Affordable options for blending RNG with Natural Gas are available now to help spur the CHP industry to the next level.

If you are interested in learning more about how RNG or hydrogen could feasibly work for your CHP project, you can reach out to us at info@jisenergy.com, or visit our products page to learn more about CogenS^TM, a techno economic evaluation, modeling, simulation and design software tailored for Cogeneration projects.