A new way to cut emissions while creating something extraordinary
Most hydrogen today is made by burning natural gas; which unfortunately releases large amounts of CO₂. But what if we could take the same methane gas and convert it into clean hydrogen and useful solid carbon, instead of releasing carbon pollution into the atmosphere?
That’s exactly what a new study has achieved — and the implications are enormous.
So what’s new?
Researchers have developed an advanced reactor system that can:
✔ Convert methane into hydrogen gas — a clean fuel
✔ Convert the carbon into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) — some of the strongest, most conductive materials known
✔ Recycle the process gases, meaning almost nothing is wasted
✔ Run without any additional hydrogen supply once started
✔ Work even on biogas, potentially removing carbon from the atmosphere
Simultaneous production of fuel and another valuable material is unprecedented.
Three ways this is this a game-changer
- The energy and climate benefits are huge
Current hydrogen production contributes 2–3% of global greenhouse emissions — clearly unsustainable. This process, called methane pyrolysis, prevents CO₂ from forming in the first place.
If the methane comes from biogas, the carbon was originally captured by plants — meaning the method can be carbon-negative. We could clean up methane emissions while making clean fuel.- The valuable product: carbon nanotubes
CNTs are not just “solid carbon waste” — they are ultra-strong, lightweight conductors used in:
– Aerospace components
– Batteries
– High-performance cables
– Next-gen composites
CNT fibres already exceed the strength of high-grade steels while weighing almost nothing and keep improving rapidly.
Using CNTs instead of carbon-intensive materials like steel or copper would dramatically lower global emissions.- Massive efficiency gains
The team redesigned a CNT-production method called FCCVD so the gases loop around the reactor instead of being discarded.
Result:
– 446-fold increase in efficiency compared with existing systems
– 85% hydrogen output by volume at the lab stage
– Waste reduced from ~99% to ~6%
Even more impressively, when they scale up the design:
– 75% of all input becomes useful product
– Hydrogen is produced at industrial-relevant rates
This is science ready for industry.
The scaling vision
To meet today’s hydrogen demand (~100 million tonnes per year), we’d need around 300 industrial plants like the one modelled here.
Those plants would:
– Provide clean hydrogen for transport and manufacturing
– Create millions of tonnes of advanced carbon materials
– Use 15% of global natural gas — diverted from being burnt and turned into emissions
What challenges remain?
The technology is extremely promising, but still needs:
– Lower catalyst consumption at larger scale
– Reduced carbon losses inside the reactor
– Tight control of methane leakage in the natural gas supply chain
None of these appear insurmountable — they’re engineering problems with clear pathways forward.
An exciting technology
This fresh approach lets us:
– Slash greenhouse emissions today — using infrastructure we already have
– Produce clean hydrogen for the industries that need it most
– Accelerate the shift to ultra-light, ultra-strong carbon-based materials
– Turn methane from a climate threat into a climate solution
It’s an elegant bridge to a cleaner world — clean fuel + carbon-negative materials, born from the same molecule.
As this technology scales, the global north stands to benefit enormously, making sustainable energy and sustainable materials a natural export.
A future where gas no longer harms the climate but helps decarbonise it is suddenly, tangibly close.
Boˆreal 