Thermal cracking of methane into Hydrogen for a CO2-free utilization of natural gas

The transition to a low-Carbon Hydrogen production will unavoidably follow a path where fossil fuels are going to play a fundamental role in the short term. The technological development of Hydrogen production based on sustainable, renewable energies (wind, solar, biomass) will most likely characterize the gradual substitution of fossil-based Hydrogen production in the long term. In this transition, the environmental concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere are a crucial issue, fostering the development of Hydrogen production scenarios in which either carbon capture and sequestration or decarburation could be implemented as mitigation or adaptation measures in order to avoid CO2 release from the utilization of fossil fuels. Therefore, the development of CO2-free technologies enabling fossil fuels exploitation is a must to make compatible their utilization with emission reductions. New innovative solutions should be put into practice. In this regard, methane cracking is a promising alternative and its potentials are highlighted and analyzed in this paper.