> In the US, regions

First of all the US isn’t the whole world.

Like you said transportation is a problem which is why you would produce it close to where it’s needed (say Nebraska). You don’t need an “ideal” solar output location.

Yes I am well aware of the energy difference.

> Exactly. 20 kg of methane costs $3 today, but contains 15 kg of carbon that could be worth $20-$30. It's a non-trivial issue if you hate generating value

If carbon free hydrogen is going to be worth doing at scale it will be because there is a price on the carbon. So the input methane will go up in price.

As for the output, global demand for carbon black is currently ~14 million metric tones a year [0].

Current hydrogen demand is ~100 million metric tones a year [1].

100 Mt of hydrogen needs ~400 Mt of methane and produces ~300 Mt of carbon.

300 Mt vs 14 Mt of current demand. What do you supposed will happen to that carbon black price when you produce even a fraction of total hydrogen demand through pyrolysis?

It’s non-trivial cause you’re gonna be having to create reverse coal mines to store all that shit.

[0]: https://www.chemanalyst.com/industry-report/carbon-black-mar...

[1]: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2025/dema...