Hydrogen and Ammonia Power Generation and Building Value Chains

 

In recent years, there has been increased recognition that global warming and climate change caused by carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from all aspects of human life and industry are common human issues. Achieving carbon neutrality by accelerating decarbonization with both political and societal measures to address these issues is now a shared goal among countries worldwide.

Carbon neutrality means “reducing the total amount of CO₂ emissions minus the amount of CO₂ absorbed and removed to zero.” In other words, after reducing CO₂ emissions as much as possible, the remaining emissions can be “absorbed” through afforestation and recycling into plastics etc., or “removed” by storing them underground, to achieve Net Zero. 

In concrete, while reducing and eliminating CO₂ emissions through energy conservation and introducing decarbonized electricity, various other initiatives will be required in the hard-to-abate sectors where reducing emissions is difficult, such as capturing CO₂, using CO₂ capture technologies and utilizing or storing it.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group has made our 2040 Carbon Neutrality Declaration, MISSION NET ZERO, to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2040, and is committed to tackling the  CO₂ emissions of our group (Scope 1 and 2(Note1)) and CO₂ emissions arising from our entire value chain and reducing these to net zero by 2040.
CO₂ emissions arising from our entire value chain means mainly the CO₂ emissions attributed to our customers’ use of our products and services (Scope 3(Note2)) plus the contribution of CCUS(Note3).
 

(Note1) Scope 1 and 2 in the GHG Protocol, an international accounting standard for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

(Note2) Scope 3 in the GHG Protocol, an international accounting standard for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

(Note3) CCUS: Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage

In order to realize a carbon neutral society, the Energy Transition from fossil fuels to clean fuels that do not emit CO₂ at the time of combustion, is necessary. Hydrogen is expected to be one of those clean fuels.
However, in regions like Japan where renewable energy resources are not readily available and the lands usable for CO₂ storage are limited, it is difficult to produce hydrogen at a low cost. That is why it is necessary to build a value chain, to produce low-cost green/blue hydrogen in regions outside Japan where renewable energy resources are abundant and vast lands are available for CO₂ storage, and to transport hydrogen to the points of utilization. As hydrogen can only be liquefied at much lower temperatures than natural gases, transportation methods other than liquefied hydrogen are being studied, such as transporting it as ammonia produced from  hydrogen and nitrogen in the air; or as methylcyclohexane (MCH) produced in a chemical reaction of hydrogen with toluene.
Also, substituting methane produced by a chemical reaction of green hydrogen and captured CO₂ for natural gas is being studied.
 

MHI Group has various technologies encompassing the production, transportation and utilization of clean fuels, including technologies for producing green/blue hydrogen, converting hydrogen to ammonia that can be handled more easily and safely and transporting it, and generating power with hydrogen and ammonia. We will combine these technologies and expertise and contribute to building a value chain of clean fuels, accelerating the Energy Transition towards realization of a carbon neutral society.