Exploring Opportunities in the Appalachian Basin

PENN VALLEY, PA, US, March 29, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Utilizing a century-old technology to ecologically and economically produce a material used in such products as tires and plastics, a Nebraska company has now become the ultimate clean hydrogen producer.

Monolith utilizes methane/natural gas and 100% renewable or clean electricity in a process known as methane pyrolysis to produce carbon black and hydrogen – all nearly carbon neutral. And, if renewable natural gas is substituted for in-ground gas, Monolith’s process is carbon negative.

“Monolith modernized and innovated a 100-year-old technology, making it work on a commercial scale,” said Anna Wishart, Monolith’s Director of Government & External Affairs.

A Monolith executive will tell the company’s story, how it fits into efforts to cut/eliminate carbon emissions and efforts to make Appalachia one of four H2 “hubs” as a presenter at next month’s Hydrogen & Carbon Capture Conference.

The one-day program, slated for April 21 at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh Southpointe, is presented by the H2-CCS Network and Shale Directories.

Wishart said the promise of a single process that would create two clean products (hydrogen and carbon black) with zero emissions was the primary driver when CEO and co-founder Rob Hanson and co-founder/company director Pete Johnson founded the company in 2012.

“Monolith’s breakthrough technology will be of interest to the registrants of the Appalachian Hydrogen & Carbon Capture Conference III,” stated Tom Gellrich, President & Founder, H2 CCS Network.

Monolith is expanding to capitalize on the growing need for clean H2 and carbon black. Its Olive Creek complex at Hallam, Neb., is undergoing a $1 billion-plus expansion, with an increase in production capacity of about 10X, while its carbon black production will increase by nearly 1300%.

“As part of our expansion project, Monolith will produce anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer,” according to Wishart. She pointed out that Russia is currently one of the world’s largest producers of H2 and carbon black, and Monolith provides an opportunity for the United States to shore up its domestic production of these two vital products and with demand for its co-products jumping nearly exponentially, Monolith actively is looking to expand in the U.S. – including in the Appalachian Basin.

“We’ve made two visits to the Marcellus-Utica Shale Play region, and we’re encouraged by potential opportunities the Appalachian Basin offers from a hydrogen production/usage perspective,” according to Wishart.

She added that Monolith is “very excited” about the Biden Administration’s push to develop the U.S. roadmap for hydrogen. The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill authorizes an $8 billion program to support the development of at least four regional clean hydrogen hubs to network hydrogen producers, storage, offtakers and transport infrastructure.

Monolith and other hydrogen producers are pushing hard for a production tax credit that could be as high as $3 per kilogram of H2 produced and catapult the U.S. into a leadership position on clean hydrogen production.

Wishart said the H2 & CCS Conference presentation will explain the pyrolysis process, the breakthrough in the process Monolith introduced, and looks to use the conference to connect with major natural gas producers and hydrogen consumers in the Marcellus-Utica.

Joe Barone
Shale Directories
+1 610-764-1232
jbarone@shaledirectories.com

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