Questions & answers
Here you'll find the answers to the most common questions about Hycamite.
Basics
Hycamite supplies methane-splitting technology, catalysts, licences and lifecycle services. Customers or project companies typically invest in, own and operate the plants and sell the hydrogen and carbon products.
Project partners may support site and feasibility studies, engineering, permitting, plant integration, construction or financing. Each partner’s role and scope are defined separately for the project.
We work with energy companies, industrial operators, technology ane OEM suppliers, infrastructure investors and project developers. Target applications include power generation, data centres, chemicals, steel, batteries, polymers, tyres and construction materials.
Customer plants are designed for locations with access to methane, energy infrastructure and nearby demand for hydrogen and carbon materials. Local production can reduce the need to transport and store hydrogen.
Yes. Where the customer’s equipment supports fuel blending, the share of hydrogen can be increased in stages as the plant and surrounding infrastructure develop.
Carbon
The process produces approximately three kilograms of solid carbon for each kilogram of hydrogen. Our main material families are graphitic carbon and carbon nanofibres, with properties controlled through catalysts and process conditions.
Target applications include battery-grade graphite, steel and metals, tyres, polymers, construction materials, conductive Lisääitives, electronics and composite materials. Each application requires product-specific testing and customer qualification.
The footprint depends on the methane supply, energy source and level of refining. Hycamite’s lifecycle assessment estimated 0.59–0.84 kg CO₂e per kilogram of unrefined carbon under the assessed Finnish energy scenarios. Further processing changes the final product footprint.
Not necessarily. The carbon leaves the process in solid form, but storage is permanent only if the final application keeps it from being oxidised or burned.
No, not directly. Producing battery-grade graphite requires further refining, consistent industrial quality and customer qualification.
Catalysts, reactor design and process conditions control properties such as graphitic structure, particle morphology, surface area, conductivity and purity. Different applications require different material specifications.
Hycamite’s current main material families are graphitic carbon and carbon nanofibres. Product descriptions should be based on the verified material specification rather than describing all output as a carbon nanotube mixture.
Hydrogen
There is no single standard price for Hycamite hydrogen. Cost depends on plant size, methane and energy prices, location, operating profile and the value of the carbon products.
The process is sometimes called turquoise hydrogen. We prefer to describe hydrogen by its measured lifecycle emissions rather than by colour.
Hycamite separates methane’s carbon directly as a solid instead of first converting it into carbon dioxide. Blue hydrogen requires CO₂ capture, transport and use or storage.
Grey hydrogen made through steam methane reforming releases methane’s carbon mainly as carbon dioxide. Hycamite separates the carbon in solid form and produces no direct CO₂ from the methane-splitting reaction. Lifecycle emissions still arise from feedstock and process energy.
Hycamite uses methane as the hydrogen source and therefore requires less external electricity than water electrolysis. Our current target is approximately 6–10 kWh of electricity per kilogram of hydrogen, excluding the chemical energy contained in methane.
Methane is split without oxygen into hydrogen and solid carbon. This means the carbon does not form carbon dioxide in the splitting reaction. Lifecycle emissions still arise from feedstock production, transport and process energy.
No. Once purified, hydrogen is the same molecule regardless of the production method. Its carbon footprint and production infrastructure are different. The same applies to products such as ammonia or methanol made from the hydrogen.
Hycamite’s lifecycle assessment estimated a footprint of 0.59–0.84 kg CO₂e per kilogram of unrefined carbon. The actual footprint depends on the methane supply, energy source and level of refining.
Yes. The process can use natural gas, biomethane and other suitable methane-containing gas streams. Climate performance depends on the origin of the feedstock and the final use of the solid carbon.
Technology
Hycamite’s thermo-catalytic decomposition technology uses heat and proprietary catalysts to split methane into low-carbon hydrogen and solid carbon without direct CO₂ emissions from the reaction.
Capacity is increased by Lisääing parallel production lines instead of relying on one very large reactor. This modular architecture supports phased capacity Lisääitions and replication across customer sites.
Production capacity can be scaled by combining parallel production lines. Hycamite’s current reference concept for 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year uses four parallel lines.
Hycamite’s current target is approximately 6–10 kWh of electricity per kilogram of hydrogen. The figure excludes the energy contained in methane and must still be confirmed in continuous industrial operation.
The standard purification concept produces hydrogen at approximately 98–99.5% purity. Final specifications are configured for the customer’s application.
The standard concept delivers hydrogen at approximately 4–10 bar. Higher pressures can be provided with Lisääitional compression.
Methane is widely available through existing gas infrastructure and can be sourced as natural gas, biomethane or other suitable methane-containing streams. Upstream methane emissions are an important part of the lifecycle footprint.
Plants
Yes. Hycamite commissioned its Hycamite Decomposition Plant, or HDP, in Kokkola in 2025. The plant is being ramped up as an industrial research, development, validation and reference facility.
The HDP has a nominal annual capacity of approximately 2,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen and 6,000 tonnes of solid carbon. Its primary role is industrial validation, customer samples and technology development.
Hycamite supports commissioning, performance testing, process optimisation, catalyst supply, technical maintenance and upgrades. Plant operation and staffing normally remain the customer’s responsibility.
The customer or project company typically contracts the detailed engineering, construction and local infrastructure. Hycamite supplies the core process technology, technical documentation and commissioning support.
There is no single standard construction time. The schedule depends on plant size, permitting, site infrastructure, engineering scope and local supply chains.
Customers or project companies typically operate and staff the plants. Hycamite supplies the technology, catalysts and commissioning, optimisation and lifecycle support.
HDP is Hycamite’s methane-splitting validation plant in Kokkola. HCR is the planned Hycamite Carbon Refinery for carbon-product qualification and refining.
No. The Hycamite Carbon Refinery is in the planning phase. Its planned role is to refine carbon materials, produce customer qualification batches and validate higher-value carbon products.
Business model
We supply the core process technology, reactor and catalyst system, process design basis, technical documentation, commissioning support and lifecycle services. The customer or its engineering partner normally delivers the surrounding plant and infrastructure.
Customers or project companies typically invest in, own and operate the plants. Hycamite does not generally build, majority-own or operate customer plants.
The customer or project company normally owns the plant output and sells the hydrogen and carbon products. Hycamite does not generally purchase or trade customer-produced carbon on its own account.
The plant produces two saleable products from one feedstock. Revenue from carbon materials can reduce the net cost of hydrogen, while local production can reduce hydrogen transport, storage and CO₂ infrastructure needs.
Recurring revenue is intended to come from catalyst deliveries, technology licences, royalties, optimisation, maintenance support and other lifecycle services throughout the plant’s operating life.
Commercial stage
Hycamite is in industrial validation and early commercialisation. Its Kokkola HDP is being used to validate process performance, operating economics and product quality before broader customer deployment.
The core process has advanced from laboratory and pilot work to industrial-scale validation. Continuous industrial performance, customer product qualification and commercial replication are still being demonstrated.
Infrastructure
Yes. A plant can use locally available methane infrastructure and produce hydrogen near the point of use, reducing the need for a new regional hydrogen network.
No. The methane-splitting reaction does not require CO₂ capture, transport or geological storage because the carbon is separated directly in solid form.
Sustainability
The methane-splitting reaction produces no direct CO₂. The full lifecycle footprint is not zero because it includes methane production and transport as well as the electricity and heat used by the plant.
Potentially, but not automatically. Biogenic carbon may qualify as a carbon removal only if it remains stored in a sufficiently durable application and the applicable verification requirements are met.