Thanks to Marcellus Drilling News for bringing this one up.  We get a lot of the information that we blog about here from them.

A company called Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. in Towanda, PA is putting some of the natural gas that we’re producing here in the Marcellus shale area to make hydrogen.  GTP uses a lot of hydrogen to produce tungsten products and solid oxide fuel cells.  Right now it ships hydrogen in from Louisiana or Canada.  Being able to make hydrogen in their plant will help to keep the plant profitable, and open.  It’s less expensive to make the hydrogen from local natural gas, and the plant won’t have to scramble for hydrogen like it did in 2010 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Louisiana supplier.

Let’s hope other people out there come up with more uses for Marcellus natural gas.  The more it’s used, the more the price of the gas will go up, and the more royalties will be paid.