Raven SR, Chevron New Energies, and Hyzon Motors are collaborating to commercialize a green waste-to-hydrogen production facility in Richmond that will offer hydrogen fuel to Northern California transportation markets.
The facility will be owned by Raven SR S, a newly formed company. The plant, which is set to launch in the first quarter of 2024, will be operated by Raven SR. Chevron owns half of Raven SR 1. Raven SR owns 30% of the corporation, while Hyzon owns the other 20%.
Every day, up to 99 wet tons of green and food waste from Republic Services’ West Contra Costa Sanitary Landfill will be diverted into the project’s non-combustion Steam/CO2 Reforming process, producing up to 2,400 metric tons of renewable hydrogen per year. This organic waste diversion will help California meet SB 1383 standards while potentially reducing up to 7,200 metric tons of CO2 emissions from landfills. Raven’s method also uses no fresh water, which is significant given California’s drought challenges, and needs less electricity to power its units than rival solutions. The project intends to generate at least 60% of its own electricity by enhancing the landfill’s currently licensed and designated landfill gas electric generators, significantly reducing both current air pollutants and the demand for grid power for its non-combustion process.
Prior to working on the Raven SR S1 plant, Chevron and Hyzon were among Raven SR’s original strategic investors, along with ITOCHU, Ascent Hydrogen Fund, and Samsung Ventures.
The Raven SR technology is a thermal, chemical reductive process that uses no combustion to convert organic waste and landfill gas to hydrogen and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels. Unlike other methods of producing hydrogen, its Steam/CO2 Reformation requires less than half the energy of electrolysis and does not use fresh water as a feedstock. The process is more efficient than traditional hydrogen generation and has the potential to produce fuel with a low to negative carbon footprint. Furthermore, Raven SR’s goal is to generate as much of its own electricity on-site as feasible in order to reduce reliance on, and/or be independent of, the grid. Its modular design allows for the scalable synthesis of renewable hydrogen and synthetic liquid fuels from local waste.
