Techno-economic evaluation of BECCS via chemical looping combustion of Japanese woody biomass

Abstract

The use of Japanese woody biomass for negative emissions via combustion and subsequent carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is investigated. To this end a novel unmixed combustion technology, Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) is benchmarked against a conventional process with post-combustion capture. The analysis is based on detailed modeling of fluidized-bed CLC reactors of different fuel-input scales. The costs of the other process steps in the BECCS chain were evaluated from literature data. This techno-economic analysis identified CO2 liquefaction and transport by tanker trucks as the cheapest CO2 transport option. The use of CLC resulted in cost savings of 17% of the entire BECCS cost per tonne of CO2 captured, and the cost-optimal plant size was 50 MWth. The cost of CO2 avoided compares favorably with other low-carbon technologies if the CO2 intensity of the generation capacity that is replaced is below 0.35 kgCO2/kWh (cf. current Japanese grid average ∼0.53 kgCO2/kWh).