The U.S. Department of Energy’s renewed Loan Programs Office is giving a conditional guarantee of about $1 billion for an expanded Nebraska project to convert methane gas to hydrogen and removing carbon in the process.
LPO has offered a conditional commitment to guarantee a loan of up to $1.04 billion for Monolith Nebraska, LLC to expand its Olive Creek facility in Hallam, Nebraska. The Monolith Olive Creek expansion will support Nebraska’s economy by creating approximately 1,000 jobs during construction and 75 high-paying, highly skilled, clean energy jobs to support facility operations.
The project is the called by its planners as first-ever commercial-scale project to deploy methane pyrolysis technology, which converts natural gas into carbon black and hydrogen — two products that are frequently used in difficult to decarbonize industrial sectors like tire and ammonia fertilizer production.
Methane pyrolysis refers to thermal decomposition of methane. It is called a non-polluting conversion to "turquoise" hydrogen by removing the solid carbon from methane.
“As the only U.S.-headquartered tire manufacturer, it’s especially rewarding to be at the connection point of significant U.S. innovation with Monolith and the commitment of the Department of Energy to sustainable outcomes,” said Richard J. Kramer, chairman and CEO of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. “We are excited to work with Monolith to reduce our carbon footprint and further our use of alternative materials as we continue to deliver industry-leading products.”
See EnergyTech's full coverage of Hydrogen stories
Subscribe to our free, tri-weekly Newsletter for more stories this
If and when completed, this loan would be the DOE LPO’s first for a non-nuclear project since 2016. The LPO intends to finance the expansion project, but several conditions remain before the funding is distributed.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is one of Monolith’s investors in the green hydrogen project. Hydrogen does not emit carbon when burned but must be created via clean energy processes.