Let's look at the numbers. The energy to split one mole of CH4 (i.e. 16 grams) into C and 2H2 is 74.6 kJ. If you burn that carbon you get 393.5 kJ and if you bu

Let's look at the numbers. The energy to split one mole of CH4 (i.e. 16 grams) into C and 2H2 is 74.6 kJ. If you burn that carbon you get 393.5 kJ and if you burn the hydrogen you get 483.6 kJ [1]. > And the energy content of the hydrogen output is less than the methane input plus the heat dumped in. This is thermodynamics. You are right, but you forgot something. You are not creating the methane. You are extracting it from the ground. The energy content of the hydrogen is only 60% of the energy content of the methane you use to get it, and if you account for the energy to split the CH4, you are left with only 50% of the original energy of the methane. But then you get hydrogen that can generate emissions-free electricity. It's a good trade off. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_enthalpy_of_formation#Examples:_standard_enthalpies_of_formation_at_25_%C2%B0C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_enthalpy_of_formation...