H2-based synthetic fuels: A techno-economic comparison of alcohol, ether and hydrocarbon production

Abstract

Electricity-based fuels are one promising option to achieve the transition of the energy system, and especially the transport sector, in order to minimize the role of fossil energy carriers. One major problem is the lacking compatibility between different techno-economic assessments, such that recommendations regarding the most promising Power-to-Fuel technology are difficult to make. This work provides a technically sound comparison of various Power-to-Fuel options regarding technological maturity and efficiency, as well as cost. The investigated options include methanol, ethanol, butanol, octanol, DME, OME3-5 and hydrocarbons. To guarantee the comparability, all necessary chemical plants were designed in Aspen Plus® to determine material and energy consumption, as well as investment costs within the same boundary conditions and assumptions in all simulations and calculations. Individual technical aspects of the various synthesis routes, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, are highlighted.With an assumed electrolysis efficiency of 70% and considering the energy demand for the CO2 supply and the energy and operating material demand of the chemical plants, depending on the selected electrofuel, 30–60% of the primary energy in renewable electricity can be stored in the lower heating value of the electrofuel. In the presented results, the costs of H2 supply are responsible for 58–83% of the total manufacturing costs and thus have the greatest potential to reduce the latter. For the base case (4.6 €/kgH2), various electrofuels will have costs of manufacturing of between 1.85 and 3.96 €/lDE, with DME being the cheapest.