In news from late last year, researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are to team up with oil and gas production company Wintershall Dea to further develop a methane pyrolysis method for the production of hydrogen that was pioneered at KIT and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam. The method involves the decomposition of methane in a bubble column reactor filled with liquid metal to produce hydrogen and solid carbon. Methane pyrolysis is also the method that Gazprom has been reported to be investigating for the production of ‘blue’ hydrogen (i.e. zero-carbon hydrogen from natural gas) for supply internationally. The research will be of interest around the world as the appetite for a hydrogen economy grows.