Japan's Marubeni plans synthetic methane production in Peru

Japan’s Marubeni Corp, Osaka Gas and Peru LNG have signed a joint study agreement to evaluate the feasibility of synthetic methane production in the south American nation, Marubeni said on July 14.

“Through this agreement, the three companies will jointly analyse and evaluate the feasibility of methanation project in Peru, where renewable energy is abundant,” Marubeni said.

Methanation is a technology that produces methane, the main component of natural gas, through a synthetic reaction of green hydrogen produced from renewable energy and CO₂ extracted from industrial facilities.

Since emissions of CO₂ generated by the use of synthetic methane are offset by the CO₂ separated and recovered as part of the methanation process, methanation is expected to be a technology that can help achieve carbon neutrality in the gas industry, Marubeni said.

The Japanese government announced the Sixth Strategic Energy Plan in October 2021, and in order to reach carbon neutrality in the gas industry, they plan to start injecting more than 1% of synthetic methane into Japan’s gas lines by 2030 and expand it to 90% by 2050.