Japan has created artificial islands using landfill waste. One such plot in Tokyo Bay even has the cheerful name “Dream Island.” Now, the country is putting waste to use in a supply chain that offers a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels.

Last year, a demonstration project in Osaka City, currently host to the World Expo, utilized raw garbage and renewable energy to produce e-methane, a synthetic gas that promises to recycle CO2 without adding to the global carbon footprint, all while utilizing existing gas infrastructure. A similar pilot is in operation just south of Tokyo, in the city of Yokohama. And while small, the tests indicate the potential for mass scale production already by the end of this decade.

Capturing the gases emitted from burning waste is just one of the pathways Japan is trialing to form the outline of a next-generation, low-carbon gas system. While electrification is expected to shift some of the energy demand from molecules to electrons, the country is still one of the top importers of natural gas via LNG. Almost half of those volumes are deployed in heating and industrial equipment – areas that are harder to electrify and abate. That suggests a substantial market for cleaner gas
substitutes.

Traditionally, the process of methanation involves synthesizing methane from hydrogen and CO2. The latter is recovered from the atmosphere or industrial emissions. When the hydrogen is made with renewable energy, the end-product is called e-methane. Like the liquid synthetic fuels (e-fuels), e-methane is touted as the future lynchpin of energy systems because it does not increase atmospheric CO2 levels over its lifecycle and has higher heating value per unit than hydrogen or ammonia when combusted.