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On the Japanese island of Hokkaido, there is a farm doing pioneering work. Rather than disposing of the vast amounts of manure produced on the island, experts have found a way to turn it into hydrogen that can be used as a sustainable fuel.
As promising as this may sound, however, the project is not without its challenges. Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.
As climate change continues to wreak havoc on the planet, the race is on to find a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
When fossil fuels—such as coal and natural gas—burn, they produce greenhouse gas emissions that cause the planet to warm.
One of the main contenders in the race to replace fossil fuels is hydrogen. Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when it burns, which makes it an attractive alternative.
Historically, however, hydrogen has not been a viable alternative because it has been complicated to produce and therefore use at scale.
However, scientists on the Japanese island of Hokkaido believe they may have found a solution that involves an unlikely product: cow pats.
As previously mentioned, hydrogen is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels because it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions when it burns.
Indeed, there are widespread hopes that it may be fuel of the future, and that it may be used to heat homes and power vehicles on a global scale.
However, the current methods used to create hydrogen fuel are problematic. The first involves using the fossil fuel methane.
Hydrogen is produced by pumping methane up from deep underground, in a process that still results in significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Hydrogen can also be produced by splitting water using electricity. However, this process is very expensive and is only sustainable if using renewable sources of electricity.
The Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm is now using a sustainable resource that is available in bucket loads on Hokkaido: manure.
Manure is available in vast quantities on Hokkaido: around 20 million tons is generated on the island annually.
If not properly processed, this manure can become a burden on the environment, since it produces methane and negatively affects water quality.
By turning the manure into hydrogen, therefore, the project at Shikaoi aims to supply the local, rural community in a circular economy.
The process works as follows. In a first step, the cows’ excrement and urine is collected from local dairy farms.
The biogas is then purified into methane, and the methane is used to manufacture the end product: hydrogen.
The waste is then fed into an anaerobic digester at a central facility, where bacteria break it down to produce biogas and a liquid fertilizer.
As it stands, the hydrogen production plant has a capacity of around 70 cubic meters (roughly 18,500 gallons).
At the hydrogen farm in Hokkaido, the team also faces additional challenges related to the climate of northern Japan.
There is also a risk that the hydrogen will degrade the metal containers it’s stored in, causing them to become embrittled.
Finally, hydrogen is easily ignited, which means that the people handling it must take additional safety precautions.
Since temperatures are generally below freezing during Hokkaido’s winters, new technologies are required to produce hydrogen stably.
Without these technologies, there is a risk that the small amounts of water vapor in the methane will freeze, ruining the production process.
While the idea of using manure to produce hydrogen does sound promising, it may be some time before the solution is rolled out on a mass scale.
Sources: (BBC)
To start with, hydrogen can be tricky to handle, since it needs to be stored in high-pressure tanks as a gas. With a low molecular weight, the gas is prone to leaking.
Two examples of such facilities include a local sturgeon fish farm and the nearby Obihiro Zoo.
Although turning manure into hydrogen may sound like a promising solution to the fuel crisis, it is not without its challenges.
The cattle-made hydrogen is also stored in cannisters and transported to provide power and heat to other facilities nearby.
This is enough to fuel around 28 vehicles fitted with hydrogen fuel cells per day. This is done using the onsite fueling station.
Although the hydrogen fuel can be used in cars with the right fuel cells, the fueling station has been designed primarily to accommodate agricultural vehicles, such as tractors.
The Japanese town turning manure into hydrogen
From animal waste to sustainable fuel
LIFESTYLE Climate change
On the Japanese island of Hokkaido, there is a farm doing pioneering work. Rather than disposing of the vast amounts of manure produced on the island, experts have found a way to turn it into hydrogen that can be used as a sustainable fuel.
As promising as this may sound, however, the project is not without its challenges. Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.