Growing concern about climate processes has caused an interest in low-carbon fuels, such as methane and hydrogen. Although hydrogen seems to be beyond comparison in this regard, the need for high energy consumption for its production—mainly due to the same fossil hydrocarbons, low specific volume energy, and problems with its storage and transportation—make the production and consumption in the “hydrogen energy” chain extremely expensive, and even environmentally unattractive. Estimates show that it is significantly inferior to methane-based energy not only in terms of costs and efficiency, but also in terms of global CO₂ emissions. The vast resources of natural methane, primarily gas hydrates, are able to provide humanity with energy and hydrocarbons for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, promising modern technologies for the conversion of methane into basic chemicals—including new autothermal technologies for its oxidative conversion into syngas and its direct conversion into chemicals—allow the consideration of methane not only as a fuel, but also as the basis of future organic chemistry. Methane and other hydrocarbons, synthesized using thermonuclear energy from CO₂ and water—which are abundant on the Earth—can remain the most convenient mobile, easily stored and transported fuels and universal chemical raw materials, even after the inevitable transition to thermonuclear energy in the distant future. The inclusion of CO₂ through the synthesis of methane into the global energy cycle will allow real global carbon neutrality to be achieved.

The paper reports the results of a kinetic modeling and thermodynamic analysis of non-catalytic steam reforming (NCSR) of methane and C₂–C₄ hydrocarbons at 1400–1800 K. The hydrocarbon-to-syngas conversion sequence and the time periods of the major process steps were identified. The initial step consists of hydrocarbon pyrolysis to acetylene and H₂ with essentially no involvement of H₂O. Noticeable H₂O conversion starts at a significantly later point than thermal hydrocarbon conversion, under the effects of radicals formed from the pyrolysis. The H₂O conversion results in the generation of OH^● radicals, which subsequently react with acetylene to form CO and H₂. The key step in the NCSR of C₁–C₄ hydrocarbons, as well as in their high-temperature interaction with CO₂ (carbon-dioxide conversion) is conversion of the acetylene formed from the hydrocarbon pyrolysis. The study findings are important for the optimization of high-temperature syngas production via partial oxidation of hydrocarbons.

The prospects for creating low-volume-production technologies for reforming of natural and associated gases to liquid carbon-containing products based on the use of cheap nitrogen-rich...