South Korea to build world's first landfill-fuelled hydrogen station

South Korea is to build the world's first hydrogen station to develop the gas from natural biogases emitted by landfill.

The government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding for the project with SK Engineering & Construction and oil refiner SK Energy. Both companies are subsidiaries of South Korean conglomerate SK Group.

The cost to build the facility, expected to be operational by November 2010, was not disclosed. It will be the first station of its kind in the world to extract hydrogen from methane as a clean fuel source, according to the Seoul municipal government.

The hydrogen station will be located in Nanjido, an island located on the outskirts of Seoul, where it will draw upon methane that is produced by decomposing rubbish at a local former landfill site.

After separating methane's two main compounds – hydrogen and carbon – the station will compress the hydrogen to reach "99.9 per cent purity", according to city officials.

The hydrogen station will be used to refuel two buses and two cars boasting hydrogen fuel cell technology. The four vehicles, valued at about 5.2bn won (US$4m), will be supplied free by South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor for use on a test-drive basis.

About 320 kilowatts of additional energy will be generated by the site, which is expected to be used to supply electricity and hot water to the Nanji Art Studio on Nanjido island.

Formerly Seoul's designated official dump site, Nanjido accumulated 91m cubic metres of rubbish before city authorities halted the dumping of trash at Nanjido in 1993.

It was subsequently transformed into a so-called ecology park, while the methane – along with other gases – produced by the site has been channeled into wells to provide heating to the 60,000 seat Seoul World Cup Stadium.

SK Energy said the Nanjido hydrogen station will serve as a stepping stone to transform itself from a petroleum-based business to one that provides cutting-edge sources of energy.