Insights from Carbon Capture and Green Hydrogen Session at Emerson Exchange

Overview

Many sessions at Emerson Exchange addressed the challenges and opportunities associated with the burgeoning role to be played by green hydrogen and carbon capture within diverse value chains in the energy infrastructure of the future.

Session on Carbon Capture and Green Hydrogen

One session at the Emerson Exchange which was worthy of note was the well-attended panel, Emerging Technologies in Decarbonization Hydrogen and Carbon Capture.

The session was hosted by Seth Harris, Director of Sustainability Sales in the Americas for Emerson Automation Solutions. The four panelists brought together a diverse range and depth of experience across practical aspects from technological and regulatory perspectives regarding current and upcoming projects, as well as market and economic drivers for greater uptake going forward.

Seth Harris provided good perspective on the role of Hydrogen and of Carbon Capture as two levers for decarbonization, which can help society meet the challenges associated with decarbonizing industrial operations while maintaining the quality of life for a growing human population. He also provided comprehensive details on our emission reduction challenges and the opportunities H2 and CCUS can offer within the energy value chain. Benchmarks he provided of current H2 production and CCUS capabilities in comparison to the future demand for both brought into stark relief how deeply and widely we will need to deploy these new technologies on an enormous scale going forward.

The session’s four panelists were:

• Jennifer Medina, Hydrogen Engineering Team Lead at SoCalGas
• John Harju, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at Energy & Environmental Research Center
• Ryan Helmer, VP of Business Development at Carbon America
• Peter Manos, Utility Industry Analyst & Product Marketing Strategist at ARC Advisory Group

The ensuing discussions and Q&A interactions were lively and started with a good overview of the exciting work being done by Southern California Gas, the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas (SCG) distributes fully 5 percent of the total amount of natural gas delivered in the U.S.

To meet its 2045 goal of net zero GHG emissions while serving 22 million customers, SCG company is engaged in many efforts across renewable natural gas and pilot sites involving wastewater treatment facilities, landfills, as well as wind and solar, along with green hydrogen. Jennifer Medina provided perspective on the extensive testing SoCal Gas has conducted of the use of a blend of 20 percent hydrogen and 80 percent natural gas in a LEED certified H2 Hydrogen Home the utility built this year in Downey, California, in collaboration with the Emerson Impact Partner Caltrol. The state-of-the-art facility utilized Emerson solutions for the first of its kind home in USA, which included solar panels, battery storage, an electrolyzer to convert solar energy to green H2, a fuel cell to convert that H2 back to electricity, plus H2 blended with natural gas for use in the home.

The work being done by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), and by Carbon America, both made it clear how much innovation is being unleashed to ensure H2 and CCUS can help society achieve its aggressive GHG emissions reductions goals. EERC’s John Harju described the organization’s leading role in the 4-state H2 Hub (MN, MT, SD, and WI) and the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership (PCOR) Initiative, and the Partnership for CO2 Capture (PCO2C) and their multi-year learnings.

All the panelists gave examples of how uptake in CCUS and H2 will require policy improvements, given the state-by-state differences in permitting and other regulatory standards and frameworks that will have to be updated. John Harju, tellingly, described how important it is to shift the conversation from the energy source to the emissions, when comparing one scenario to another, if we are to be fair in the comparisons we make.

John Harju’s reference to the underlying biases which many people have against fossil fuels was echoed by SCG’s Jennifer Medina when she referenced the tendency of the general public and many policymakers to make blanket statements such as “we need to get rid of all natural gas and go 100 percent electric” despite the fact that a large portion of the electricity being generated is from gas-fired facilities, and despite the clean energy benefits that a future mix of hydrogen and green natural gas can provide, via direct service or via electric service in the future utilizing local fuel cells, to homes in California which are increasingly facing electricity service outages due to fire and other conditions. While SCG is very supportive of the move toward greater utilization of wind and solar, in this mix, green hydrogen and green gas can and should have a big role to play.

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Keywords: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS), Green Hydrogen, Sustainability, Net Zero, Energy Efficiency, Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs), Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), ARC Advisory Group.