Life cycle and economic analysis of chemicals production via electrolytic (bi)carbonate and gaseous CO2 conversion

Pengtao Yue, Zhongyin Kang, Qian Fu, Jun Li, Liang Zhang, Xun Zhu and Qiang Liao

Applied Energy, 2021, vol. 304, issue C, No S0306261921011077

Abstract: Electrochemical CO2 reduction provides a new insight to produce value-added chemicals production, but it requires a large amount of energy inputs to support the process of CO2 capture (i.e., desorption and separation process). Carbon-based fuels production via electrolytic (bi)carbonate conversion can bypass the energy-intensive steps (desorption and separation), becoming more environmental-friendly compared to electrolytic gaseous CO2-to-chemicals conversion. Here, we comprehensively explore and assess the energy conversion and environmental impacts, and economic benefits of the (bi)carbonate-to-chemicals and gaseous CO2-to-chemicals conversions using life cycle and economic assessments. The results show that the (bi)carbonate-to-chemicals conversion promote the energy and environmental benefits but reduce the economic benefits. (Bi)carbonate-to-formate and -CO conversion show low net energy ratio (1.90 and 1.93, respectively) and Greenhouse gas emissions (−0.5238 and −0.6287 t CO2-eq/t CO2 gas injection, respectively). While gaseous CO2-to-formate and -CO conversion are more industrially feasible for commercial application due to their lower overpotentials, higher current density, and higher Faradaic efficiency. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis show that the (bi)carbonate-to-chemicals systems are more promising through reducing the overpotential, enhancing the current density and Faradaic efficiency of the systems. This work demonstrates that electrolytic (bi)carbonate-to-chemicals conversion systems are eco-friendly, and give a theoretical guide to develop this energy-efficient CO2 utilization approach.

Keywords: Life-cycle assessment; Economic assessment; Electrochemical CO2 reduction; Electrolytic (bi)carbonate conversion; Carbon-based fuels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117768

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