Hydrogen To Take Over North Dakota Coal? That Was Quick.

That title is really the only place you'll find such a misguided statement.

But...

Coal is on the ropes and North Dakota threw out the lifeline...which a crazy site chronicled an aggressive move to combat the uprising of wind energy,  which is frankly not so crazy because we did penalize wind in 2021.

But apparently, inviting Japanese global powerhouse Mitsubishi into our back yard is gonna be just fine.

I one hundred percent believe in any input from the world stage on how we can rectify our power producing capabilities is a big plus.  We do have massive power under these prairies, but now we're being forced to produce it in a carbon neutral format. Sorry North Dakota, but until this pressure and future incentives have been offered...we've all been guilty of being more than a little stand-offish to alternative ideas.

So along comes hydrogen capture.

Burgum hailed the project as big part of the state’s plan of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, “through innovation not regulation.” No specific timeline or a cost for the project was disclosed.

Who gets to be the hydrogen hot spot?

The hydrogen for the project will come from natural gas produced in North Dakota’s oil fields or from gas from the Dakota Gasification plant, or a mix of both — if the deal goes through for the facility.

Officials said the project would move ahead with or without the synfuels plant.

The hulking industrial complex on the prairie is the only one of two in the world — the other one is in South Africa. It was built in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s to make natural gas from lignite, a low-grade coal abundant in North Dakota.

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah.

This troubled facility may rise from the ashes, and lay claim to becoming a hydrogen powerhouse on the planet. But, as they said, Mitsubishi will move forward with or without it. Click it...they said that.

Lets keep going...how does it work North Dakota?

Steam-methane reforming reaction
CH₄ + H₂O (+ heat) → CO + 3H₂

Are you still here? Cool. Because here comes more info I can't explain to you with my small brain...energy.gov is on it

" the carbon monoxide and steam are reacted using a catalyst to produce carbon dioxide and more hydrogen. In a final process step called "pressure-swing adsorption," carbon dioxide and other impurities are removed from the gas stream, leaving essentially pure hydrogen. Steam reforming can also be used to produce hydrogen from other fuels, such as ethanol, propane, or even gasoline.

Good Lord! This has been a long talk but I hope ya clicked some links and learned some things.  There's so much here, here, here, and here.

I'm exhausted...but applauding forward thinking on Gov Doug's part.  There's an endgame here that we need to achieve. We can.  Even partnering with Mitsubishi.