US-based K2 Pure Solutions has started expanding its Californian chlor-alkali site with plans to sell by-product hydrogen in the state.
The company said its existing plant in Pittsburg would be expanded and equipped with hydrogen capture, purification, and compression systems.
The chlor-alkali plant produces bleach, which includes the electrolysis of brine – generating chlorine, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide, with the hydrogen typically vented.
But K2 says it has partnered with gas marketer Pacc Services to find customers for the molecules that would be otherwise wasted.
“Rather than allowing this hydrogen byproduct to go unused, K2 is investing in advanced systems to capture, purify, compress, and distribute it as a low-carbon fuel,” K2 said.
H2 View understands it will be targeting local transportation, industrial, and power markets.
The firm has not announced the volume of hydrogen expected to be produced, but says the expansion could be commissioned by early summer 2026.
K2 claims the hydrogen will have a carbon intensity around 95% lower than gasoline under the US Department of Energy’s GREET model. However, such estimates depend heavily on system-boundary and allocation assumptions, including how emissions from the chlor-alkali process and electricity use are attributed.
“Our Northern California footprint puts us close to customers who are ready to act on sustainability today, not in the distant future,” said K2 CEO Howard Brodie.
K2 isn’t the only firm looking to monetise by-product hydrogen. In 2024, Canadian start-up Teralta said it would look to sell waste hydrogen from Chemtrade’s sodium chlorate production to a British Columbia pulp mill.
Earlier this year, US-based Independence Hydrogen secured investment from Sumitomo Corporation to expand its waste hydrogen recycling process.