New process turns biogas into hydrogen
Iogen Corp. has developed and patented a new method to make drop-in cellulosic biofuels from biogas using existing refinery assets and production operations. The company estimates enough refining capacity is already in place to produce 5 to 6 billion gallons of the fuel.
The technology involves processing biogas to make renewable hydrogen, which is then incorporated into finished transportation fuels in selected refinery hydrogenating units.
The company developed the biogas-to-cellulosic fuels approach as it examined sending the tail end of fermentations to an anaerobic digester as a way to increase the efficiency of its cellulosic ethanol process.
Iogen plans to implement the process as two large-scale cellulosic ethanol plants it is developing in the U.S., which are expected to be constructed in Kansas and North Dakota.