Institute of Gas Innovation and Technology (IGIT)

Mission

Use Academic-Industry platform to accelerate deployment of advanced energy technologies and infrastructure for gas to provide community residents and businesses with value-added services accomplished through innovative energy research, analysis, and education. CIEES works with IGIT on a variety of industrial applications of renewable hydrogen: efficient electrolysis, Hydrogen storage, permeability of pipe materials to high-pressure Hydrogen.  The projects involve NY utilities, such as National Grid, ConEdison and small businesses.

Research

Dr. Devinder Mahajan, Director of IGIT

Carbon-based energy consumption and its environmental impact from released greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and leaked methane (CH4), is now of immediate concern. In 2020, the recorded atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 were 416 and 1.89 ppm, respectively. However, CH4 is 84 times more potent than CO2, over a 20-year period, its CO2 equivalency calculates to 158.7 ppm, a rather serious number that cannot be ignored. About 2.5 million miles of pipelines transport natural gas, accounting for about 25 percent of all the energy consumed in the US each year. If the fossil-based natural gas is replaced with a greener substitute such as Hydrogen, there is an increased opportunity to deliver a transformative impact in the clean energy space and reduce GHG emissions. 

The IGIT team studies the impact of partially replacing natural gas with renewable natural gas (RNG) and "green" Hydrogen. The benefits of utilizing RNG are that it has no climate change impact when combusted and utilized in the same applications as fossil natural gas. RNG can be injected into the gas grid, used as a transportation fuel, or used for heating and electricity generation. Less common applications include utilizing RNG to produce chemicals, such as methanol, dimethyl ether, and ammonia. For example, an IGIT assessment of the biogas potential on Long Island, based on the review of local landfills, wastewater treatment plants, solid waste generation and management, and agricultural waste, found that 234 x 106 m3 of methane (CH(4)) from biogas might be harvestable. However, currently, only about 10% of the State's resources are used to generate biogas, of which a small fraction is processed to RNG on the only two operational RNG facilities in the NY state. This is why "green" Hydrogen is essential in reducing NY state carbon footprint. Injecting RNG and "green" hydrogen gas into the pipeline system can reduce up to 20% of the State's carbon emissions resulting from fossil natural gas usage, which is a significant greenhouse gas reduction. 

The team is working on a concept of storing intermittent electricity produced from renewables such as Hydrogen or RNG, an option formally known as power-to-gas, or P2G. This concept could deliver storage potential two orders of magnitude higher than batteries and would ensure a sustainable future for gas in coming decades.

Selected Publications

[1]S. Taboada, L. Clark, J. Lindberg, D. J. Tonjes, and D. Mahajan, "Quantifying the Potential of Renewable Natural Gas to Support a Reformed Energy Landscape: Estimates for New York State," Energies, vol. 14, no. 13, Jul 2021, Art no. 3834, doi: 10.3390/en14133834.

[2]D. Mahajan, C. Szum, L. Ting, and C. Xiaoli, "Introduction to special issue on US-China EcoPartnership: Pathways toward decarbonizing economies to mitigate climate change," Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, vol. 40, no. 5, Sep 2021, Art no. e13652, doi: 10.1002/ep.13652.

[3]T. T. P. Pham et al., "Microwave-assisted dry reforming of methane for syngas production: a review," Environ. Chem. Lett., vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1987-2019, Nov 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10311-020-01055-0.

[4]B. R. Wu, K. Horvat, D. Mahajan, X. L. Chai, D. H. Yang, and X. H. Dai, "Free-conditioning dewatering of sewage sludge through in situ propane hydrate formation," Water Res., vol. 145, pp. 464-472, Nov 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.08.057.

[5]K. Araujo, D. Mahajan, R. Kerr, and M. da Silva, "Global Biofuels at the Crossroads: An Overview of Technical, Policy, and Investment Complexities in the Sustainability of Biofuel Development," Agriculture-Basel, vol. 7, no. 4, Apr 2017, Art no. 32, doi: 10.3390/agriculture7040032.

[6]Y. Hung, H. Tawfik, and D. Mahajan, "Durability and characterization studies of chromium carbide coated aluminum fuel cell stack," Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, vol. 41, no. 28, pp. 12273-12284, Jul 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.05.136.

[7]X. L. Chai, D. J. Tonjes, and D. Mahajan, "Methane emissions as energy reservoir: Context, scope, causes and mitigation strategies," Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, vol. 56, pp. 33-70, Sep 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.pecs.2016.05.001.