Editorial Comment

What are “green technologies,” and why do we need them in gas processing and LNG? The answer is as obvious to many engineers in the energy space as it is to environmental scientists: cleaner fuels result in a cleaner and more sustainable environment. Less emissions and fewer pollutants are needed in the production, transport, distribution and usage of fossil energy, including natural gas, to sustain human and environmental health and to diversify global and regional energy sources.

A number of initiatives are underway to support these efforts across the midstream, downstream and renewable energy sectors, including the capture and storage of more CO₂ emissions; a greater focus on lifecycle emissions, particularly in LNG; increased recycling of plastics and wastes; and the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure and H₂ production. Note: For more insight into technical applications and trends in the H₂ sector, please consult our new technical journal, H2Tech (www.H2-Tech.com).

To support the industry’s efforts to decarbonize and transition to cleaner sources of energy, the U.S. Department of Energy’s three applied energy laboratories are studying the integration of hybrid energy systems. The joint effort outlines novel concepts to simultaneously leverage diverse energy generators—including renewable, nuclear and fossil fuels with carbon capture—to provide power, heat, clean water, fuels and chemicals.

One application example is a hypothetical, tightly coupled industrial energy park that uses heat and electricity from flexible, advanced nuclear reactors, small-scale fossil fuel generators, and renewable energy to produce electricity and H₂ from electrolysis. Such flexibility could provide an abundant supply of clean energy for larger, net-zero-emissions energy systems to power a cleaner future for society. GP