Air Liquide, a French industrial gas giant, will open a factory near Las Vegas this month to convert methane from landfills into hydrogen, which will be used to power zero-emission cars and trucks.
The $250 million plant will have the capacity to produce up to 30 tons of liquid hydrogen per day, enough to power approximately 40,000 fuel-cell vehicles.
Initially, Air Liquide plans to ship all of the plant’s output to California, despite the fact that the state has only about 12,000 registered hydrogen vehicles. However, as California strives to decarbonize its economy by 2045, the company predicts an increase in demand for hydrogen as a transportation fuel, particularly in long-haul trucking.
The raw material for the plant will be landfill gas, preventing methane from escaping into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. Before being stripped of hydrogen via steam reformation, the landfill gas will be purified into renewable natural gas.
Air Liquide will deliver the hydrogen to FirstElement Fuel, a California-based company that operates hydrogen fueling stations.
