In Richmond, California, a city plagued by the carbon dioxide, soot and methane emitted by a massive oil refinery owned by Chevron Corp., a startup is building a waste-to-green hydrogen conversion project designed to produce zero-carbon hydrogen for transportation applications. If it succeeds, the facility will reduce the city’s methane emissions, help waste haulers meet laws on diverting green waste and supply gas stations, including Chevron’s, with fuel for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

It will also further the quest to produce hydrogen without fossil fuels or fresh water. Its largest investor: Chevron. 

Startup Raven SR uses a patented steam and chemical reductive process to convert biogenic waste and landfill gas into transportation grade hydrogen. It’s building the facility next to a massive county landfill and transfer station where waste company Republic Services Inc. sorts and processes recyclables and turns green waste to compost. Raven SR plans to use 70 to 90 tons of that green waste a day to produce what it estimates will be about 2,000 metric tons of renewable hydrogen a year.