Japan inaugurates country’s first biomass-based hydrogen facility

Japan’s first hydrogen production supply facility to use agricultural wastes has been inaugurated in Hokkaido. The Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm is a collaborative project between world-leading industrial gases company Air Products and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Pipeline & Engineering Co. Ltd., an engineering and construction services company.

The two companies teamed up for the development of the retail automotive hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Japan. Air Products provided its hydrogen fueling technology for the project and its proprietary membrane technology for the biogas purification process.

“We are honored to not only provide our SmartFue hydrogen fueling technology, but also our PRISM® membrane technology, to support this integrated and renewable hydrogen supply chain capability,” said Ed Kiczek, global business director‒Hydrogen Energy Systems, at Air Products. “This innovative project represents the second hydrogen fueling station that we have successfully constructed and delivered with NSPE in the Japanese market, and we look forward to collaborating with them on many more.”

The Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm utilizes agricultural wastes which are anaerobically digested to create a supply of raw biogas. This biogas is upgraded to a purified supply of biomethane using Air Products’ PRISMPB Membrane separators. The biomethane is then used as a feedstock to manufacture renewable hydrogen on-site, which generates heat, power and vehicle fuel. This is the first facility in Japan to use agricultural wastes as the source to manufacture hydrogen.

The Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm is a five-year business project entrusted by the Ministry of the Environment in Japan for low-carbon hydrogen technology. The project demonstrates an integrated hydrogen energy-based supply chain, leveraging local renewable energy sources for hydrogen generation, storage, transportation and use.

The hydrogen is returned to local livestock farmers and neighboring facilities as a source of renewable energy and fuel. Hokkaido’s first hydrogen-vehicle fueling station is installed at the Farm, which delivers fuel to hydrogen-powered vehicles and forklifts.

Additional companies contributing to the project are Air Water Inc. and Kajima Corporation.

Air Products’ SmartFuel hydrogen fueling stations provide hydrogen fueling at 35 Mpa (5,000 psi) and 70 Mpa (10,000 psi) in compliance with JPEC (Japan Petroleum Energy Center) S0003. Use of the company’s fueling technology is increasing and is already used in approximately 1,500,000 hydrogen fills per year. Air Products has been involved in over 200 hydrogen fueling projects in the United States and 20 countries worldwide.