Monolith earns conditional loan guarantee from US DOE
SUMMARY
Company will use methane pyrolysis to produce clean hydrogen and carbon black [Image: Monolith]
By Dale LunanNebraska-based Monolith, which uses methane pyroloysis to produce clean hydrogen and carbon black from natural gas, said December 23 it had earned conditional approval from the US Department of Energy (DoE) for a $1.04bn loan guarantee to expand its facilities in Hallam, Nebraska.
The funding will come from the DoE’s Title XVII Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Programme, which has provided more than $25bn in loan guarantees to an “all-of-the-above” portfolio of energy projects.
“The Title XVII Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Programme’s purpose is to recognise and support technology that reduces emissions and supports a clean energy future,” US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said. “Advanced, clean production technology like Monolith’s are the types of impactful projects that support not just sustainability, but economic growth and clean energy jobs for the American people.”
The loan guarantee will be applied to an expansion of Monolith’s Olive Creek facility in Hallam, which will then be the largest carbon black production plant in the US, capable of producing 194,000 mt/yr. It will also use clean hydrogen produced at the facility to make clean ammonia for distribution throughout the US cornbelt.
Monolith’s methane pyrolysis technology is considered net-negative in terms of carbon emissions, preventing the release of 2.3 mt of CO2 for every mt of carbon black produced. Expansion at Olive Creek, it said, will prevent 1mn mt/yr of CO2emissions when compared to traditional carbon black manufacturing processes.
The DoE’s loan guarantee demonstrates the department’s intent to finance the expansion, but several steps remain and certain conditions must be satisfied before a final loan guarantee is issued, Monolith said.
