Aurora Hydrogen, an Edmonton-based hydrogen (H₂) technology company, is producing high-efficiency clean H₂ through methane pyrolysis and collaborating across the industry to develop the low-carbon H₂ market in Canada. H2Tech spoke with Andrew Gillis, CEO of Aurora Hydrogen in a Q&A about their open-source toolkit.

How important is standardization in the H₂ economy?

It is critical that we have a standardized approach to determine carbon intensity for H₂. By focusing on carbon intensity at the asset level, comparisons can move away from color labels towards a more universal understanding of the environmental benefits and value of H₂ as a decarbonization fuel. Low-carbon H₂ will increasingly be a global commodity and we must ensure we are measuring the carbon intensity consistently, regardless of where it is produced or consumed.

Aurora Hydrogen is helping advance transparency and credibility of H₂ markets alongside industry leaders as a technical sponsor of the open H₂ initiative (OHI), a group led by GTI Energy, S&P Global Commodity Insights and National Energy Technology Laboratory, and through its presence at prominent energy conferences.

OHI recently released an open-source toolkit to standardize the carbon intensity measurement of H₂ for the global market. With H₂ supply expected to grow by 170% to 256 million metric tons (MMt) in 2050, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights, a standard tool to measure carbon intensity will unlock H₂’s potential to decarbonize energy-intensive sectors. As the sole methane pyrolysis company in OHI, Aurora Hydrogen provided input on the toolkit to ensure it included all viable production methods and factored in the valorization of the carbon coproduct.

How can the open-source toolkit standardize the carbon intensity measurement of H₂?

The OHI toolkit is an intuitive and easy to use tool that can be used across various countries and production technologies. By being open sourced, it ensures credibility and transparency. All meaningful H₂ production technologies can be measured with this toolkit.

How carbon intensive is Aurora’s H₂ production process?

Compared to other methane pyrolysis companies, we believe Aurora Hydrogen has the lowest carbon intensity. This is a result of our energy efficient microwave production process. That said, the actual carbon intensity will depend on the source of natural gas and electricity. Unlike the GREET tool developed by the U.S. DOE, which has fixed upstream emission rates for natural gas, the OHI tool is much more granular and looks at regional production and distribution emission rates.

Aurora Hydrogen’s method of methane pyrolysis produces clean H₂ at the point of use, eliminating the need for H₂ transportation or CO₂ storage. First developed and tested by scientists from the University of Toronto and University of Alberta in Canada, the method uses natural gas and microwaves to produce H₂ and solid carbon without CO₂ emissions.