Abstract
Electrifying energy-intensive processes is currently intensively explored to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through renewable electricity. Electrification is particularly challenging if fossil resources are not only used for energy supply but also as feedstock. Copper production is such an energy-intensive process consuming large quantities of fossil fuels both as reducing agent and as energy supply.Here, we explore the techno-economic potential of Power-to-Hydrogen to decarbonize copper production. To determine the minimal cost of an on-site retrofit with Power-to-Hydrogen technology, we formulate and solve a mixed-integer linear program for the integrated system. Under current techno-economic parameters for Germany, the resulting direct CO2 abatement cost is 201 EUR/t CO2-eq for Power-to-Hydrogen in copper production. On-site utilization of the electrolysis by-product oxygen has a substantial economic benefit. While the abatement cost vastly exceeds current European emission certificate prices, a sensitivity analysis shows that projected future developments in Power-to-Hydrogen technologies can greatly reduce the direct CO2 abatement cost to 54 EUR/t CO2-eq. An analysis of the total GHG emissions shows that decarbonization through Power-to-Hydrogen reduces the global GHG emissions only if the emission factor of the electricity supply lies below 160 g CO2-eq/kWhel.The results suggest that decarbonization of copper production by Power-to-Hydrogen could become economically and environmentally beneficial over the next decades due to cheaper and more efficient Power-to-Hydrogen technology, rising GHG emission certificate prices, and further decarbonization of the electricity supply.
Highlights
The reduction of CO2 emissions in the industrial sector will be crucial to meet the goals for climate change mitigation (Rogelj et al, 2018; de Coninck et al, 2018)
The results suggest that decarbonization of copper production by Power-to-Hydrogen could become economically and environmentally beneficial over the decades due to cheaper and more efficient Power-to-Hydrogen technology, rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emission certificate prices, and further decarbonization of the electricity supply
This work analyzes the techno-economic potential of decarbonizing copper production with H2 by retrofitting a Power-to-H2
Summary
The reduction of CO2 emissions in the industrial sector will be crucial to meet the goals for climate change mitigation (Rogelj et al, 2018; de Coninck et al, 2018). An increasingly powerful tool for reducing emissions is electrification due to the rapid decarbonization of power supply (Luderer et al, 2018). Replacing fossil fuels with electricity is not always directly possible since fossil fuels serve two use cases in energyintensive industries: 1) the supply of process heat by combustion and 2) the use as chemical feedstock. Process heat demand is typically large and only few alternatives to fossil fuels can supply heat at the required consistency, fluxes, and in particular high temperatures (Friedmann et al, 2019). A promising alternative to fossil fuels is the combustion of renewable hydrogen (H2) to provide high-temperature process heat (Friedmann et al, 2019). Renewable H2 can often be used as an alternative chemical feedstock
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
