Environmental and Economic Performance of CO 2 -Based Methanol Production Using Long-Distance Transport for H 2 in Combination with CO 2 Point Sources: A Case Study for Germany

Simon Kaiser, Felix Siems, Clemens Mostert and Stefan Bringezu
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Simon Kaiser: Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, 34117 Kassel, Germany
Felix Siems: Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, 34117 Kassel, Germany
Clemens Mostert: Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, 34117 Kassel, Germany
Stefan Bringezu: Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: The use of CO 2 -based hydrocarbons plays a crucial role in reducing the climate footprint for several industry sectors, such as the chemical industry. Recent studies showed that regions which are favorable for the production of CO 2 -based hydrocarbons from an energy perspective often do not provide concentrated point sources for CO 2 , which leads to an increased environmental impact due to the higher energy demand of direct air capture processes. Thus, producing H 2 in regions with high renewable power potential and transporting it to industrialized regions with concentrated CO 2 point sources could provide favorable options for the whole process chain. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare pathways to produce CO 2 -based methanol in Germany using a local CO 2 point source in combination with the import of H 2 per pipeline or per ship as well as H 2 produced in Germany. The environmental and economic performance of the pathways are assessed using life cycle assessment and cost analysis. As environmental indicators, the climate, material, water, and land footprints were calculated. The pathway that uses H 2 produced with electricity from offshore wind parks in Germany shows the least environmental impacts, whereas the import via pipeline shows the best results among the importing pathways. The production costs are the lowest for import via pipeline now and in the near future. Import via ship is only cost-efficient in the status quo if waste heat sources are available, but it could be more competitive in the future if more energy and cost-efficient options for regional H 2 distribution are available. It is shown that the climate mitigation effect is more cost-effective if the H 2 is produced domestically or imported via pipeline. Compared to the import of CO 2 -based methanol, the analyzed H 2 import pathways show a comparable (pipeline) or worse environmental and economic performance (ship).

Keywords: CO 2 -based methanol; H 2 import; environmental and economic assessment; defossilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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