SDK Supplies Low-carbon Hydrogen Made from Used Plastics to Hotel’s Fuel Cell

May 30, 2018
Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko (SDK) (TOKYO: 4004) will start to supply “low-carbon” hydrogen gas made from used plastics (low-carbon hydrogen) at its Kawasaki Plant to KAWASAKI KING SKYFRONT TOKYU REI HOTEL, which will open on June 1, 2018, as energy source for fuel cells.

In 2003, SDK’s Kawasaki Plant introduced a method to extract hydrogen, which is used as raw material to produce ammonia, from used plastics. By utilizing used plastics as raw material, this hydrogen production method not only reduces consumption of fossil fuels but also promotes reuse of CO₂ gas, which is generated as a by-product of the hydrogen extraction process, by converting it into dry ice. Thus this hydrogen production method considerably lowers the burden on the environment from that of conventional production method.

SDK’s “Demonstration Project to Promote Local Consumption of Locally Produced Low-carbon Hydrogen Gas Made from Used Plastics” has been accredited as an official project under the framework of “FY 2015 Regional Cooperation and Low-carbon Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Project” commissioned by the Ministry of Environment. SDK’s project has also been accredited as a part of “Kawasaki Eco-town Project,” which is promoted by Kawasaki City.