[ExI] Syngas interest lethargy- misconceptions about carbon monoxide and hydrogen?

[Keith Henson]

The biggest problem is CO.  We lived with that in town gas from 1860
to 1950.  With about 15% energy loss, you can convert syngas to
methane.  That might be the right path for long-term, high-pressure
storage.  Otherwise, if you set a leak on fire, it is no longer a
poison gas problem. This is only a problem with high pressure; the low
pressure at which town gas was delivered did not leak enough to be a
big problem.  Storing GWh of syngas at low pressure might be a
problem.  They used giant floating tanks when I was a kid. Burning
low-pressure gas in turbines might take some thought.  I guess you
could just carbonate the gas into the air stream.

On Sat, Mar 21, 2026 at 4:54 AM Bill Gardiner
<william.w.gardiner at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What are the perceived risks of syngas in the form of  those principle components?
> How do çyou dismiss them?
>
> Bill
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2026, 3:19 AM Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I posted this on LinkedIn.
>>
>> The biggest problem with renewable energy is large scale, long term storage.
>>
>> "A Victorian gas-making technology might solve this problem. About
>> 1860, they made gas by burning coke till it got white hot, then
>> shutting off the air and blowing steam through the mass of coke. This
>> made CO and hydrogen, which was distributed as town gas.
>>
>> "For carbon, we can use municipal waste, which is 40% carbon. For
>> heat, renewable electricity from wind or solar. 4 MWh will vaporize a
>> ton of carbon in steam, making about 11 MWh of syngas. The syngas can
>> be stored and then burned in a combined cycle turbine, giving over 6
>> MWh of electricity.
>>
>> "This scales to a rather large size. LA makes 100,000 tons per day, of
>> which 40% is carbon. Run 1/3rd of the day, the gasifiers could absorb
>> 20 GW, producing 240 GWh of syngas. This sounds like a lot until you
>> realize California is putting in 13 GW over the canals."
>>
>> According to LinkedIn, almost 1000 people read it, including people in
>> the utility industry.  There were no comments except my comment,
>> giving my email.  No emails.
>>
>> Is the idea so strange that people can't understand?  75 years ago,
>> the US made town gas from coke at a similar scale.  Is invoking
>> chemical reactions from the Victorian era simply rejected?
>>
>> Any thoughts on the results?  I am mystified.
>>
>> Keith
>>
>> PS March 24, I am giving a talk on this topic to the local IEEE
>> chapter.  If it is not closed, I will let you know.
>>
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