The City of Yokohama and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Gas), together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and MHI Group company MHI Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (MHIEC), are to launch a demonstration experiment of a CO2 capture and utilization (CCU) process in which CO2 is separated and captured from the flue gas of a municipal waste-to-energy plant, and transported to a local methanation demonstration facility operated by Tokyo Gas to be used as feedstock for methanation. This CCU demonstration experiment based on regional cooperation, conducted in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, is the first of its kind in Japan, which will aim to practically introduce e-methane in addition to improve and expand CCU technology.
The City of Yokohama and Tokyo Gas together with MHI and MHIEC (MHI Group), based on an agreement and memorandum of understanding concluded in 2022, have been making preparations for the demonstration experiment.
Now that trial operations for all equipment have been completed, the partners will begin the demonstration experiment in which CO2 is separated and captured from flue gas at the Tsurumi Plant using a system developed by MHI Group, and transported to the Tokyo Gas Yokohama Techno Station to be used for methanation. This CCU demonstration initiative, in which CO2 that has been separated and captured from the flue gas of a waste-to-energy plant is transported to a different demand location for use in methanation, is the first of its kind in Japan.
In addition, the methanation facility used for this demonstration test operates with 100% renewable energy by utilizing electric power is generated at waste-to-energy plants in Yokohama.
Going forward, the partners aim to utilize CO2 for purposes other than methanation facilities, as well as to explore measures for the visualization of the CO2 value chain, such as the amount of CO2 collected and the transport destination.