Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has invested in US-based startup C-Zero to accelerate production of clean hydrogen from natural gas, it said in February 10 statement. It joins a consortium of investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eni Next, and AP Ventures.  

The Japanese firm plans to commercialise C-Zero's drop-in decarbonisation technology, which will allow industrial natural gas consumers to avoid producing CO₂ in applications like electrical generation, process heating and the production of commodity chemicals like hydrogen and ammonia, MHI said.  

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C-Zero's technology uses thermocatalysis to split methane into hydrogen and solid carbon in a process known as methane pyrolysis. This so-called turquoise hydrogen "can be used to help decarbonise a wide array of existing applications, including hydrogen production for fuel cell vehicles, while the carbon can be permanently sequestered," MHI said.  

When renewable natural gas is used as the feedstock, C-Zero's technology can even be carbon negative, effectively extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently storing it in the form of high-density solid carbon. 

As part of the investment, MHI said it will examine the potential of using the company's technology for the production and supply of hydrogen that could then be utilised for power generation systems.