Utility company, Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) is collaborating with research and training organisation, GTI Energy, to study the use of hydrogen and hydrogen blending in hard-to-decarbonise commercial and industrial processes.
The aim of the project is to study the use of hydrogen in heavy equipment, blended with natural gas up to 100% hydrogen, with an emphasis on end-uses that cannot easily be electrified. The focus of the study will be on costs, safety, and emissions reductions when introducing hydrogen in commercial and industrial uses. SoCalGas has awarded $752,000 (€684,000) to help fund the project, which is in addition to a $1.77 million (€1.61 million) grant approved by the California Energy Commission in July 2022.
Neil Navin, chief clean fuels officer at SoCalGas says: ‘One of California’s biggest challenges in achieving net zero is finding ways to decarbonise heavy industries whose functions are difficult or impossible to electrify. This collaboration with GTI Energy will help us identify the most promising avenues to decarbonise and take important steps toward reaching net zero through clean fuels.’
‘We’re focused on providing options for SoCalGas’s commercial and industrial customers to decarbonise their operations with H2-based fuels, with an eye towards safety, equity, and environmental impacts. Decarbonising California’s businesses and industry is no small task, and we’re fortunate in this effort to build on strong partnerships with SoCalGas and other utilities, in addition to an excellent technical team—including EPRI, UC Irvine, and AHRI,’ adds Kristine Wiley, vice president of the Hydrogen Technology Centre at GTI Energy.
