Hydrogen production because it is more efficient than separate hydrogen, steam and power plants. Air Products recently built an integrated steam reforming / co-generation plant in Port Arthur, Texas. Hydrogen production from natural gas or other hydrocarbons is achieved by partial oxidation. A fuel-air or fuel-oxygen mixture is partially combusted resulting in a hydrogen rich syngas. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are obtained via the water-gas shift reaction. Carbon dioxide can be co-fed to lower the hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio. The partial oxidation reaction occurs when a substoichiometric fuel-air mixture or fuel-oxygen is partially combusted in a reformer or partial oxidation reactor.
Hydrogen economy conversion methods, the efficiency of distributed hydrogen production would be roughly 25%. The distributed production of hydrogen in this fashion would be expected to generate air emissions of pollutants and carbon dioxide at various points in the supply chain, e.g., electrolysis, transportation and storage. Such externalities as pollution must be weighed against the potential advantages of a hydrogen economy. One of the main offerings of a hydrogen economy is that the fuel can replace the fossil fuel burned in internal combustion engines and turbines as the primary way to convert chemical energy into kinetic or electrical energy; hereby eliminating greenhouse