IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v268y2020ics0306261920305456.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Stepping towards a low-carbon economy. Formic acid from biogas as case of study

Author

Listed:
  • Baena-Moreno, Francisco M.
  • Pastor-Pérez, Laura
  • Zhang, Zhien
  • Reina, T.R.

Abstract

The European Union has set an ambitious plan for addressing the Global Challanges in the coming years. One of these challenges is the use of biomass and the production of biomass-derived products following the spirit of a circular economy. Biogas obtained from biomass anaerobic digestion could play a pivotal role in this strategy. Herein an innovative strategy for synergizing biogas upgrading to biomethane and formic acid production from CO2 is presented. A profitability analysis of the combined biogas upgrading – CO2 utilization process was conducted to assess the economic viability of this novel approach. The profitability study focuses mainly on net present value and profitability index. Even though the process is environmentally favourable, negative profitability results are obtained. To revert the negative outputs, out of the market formic acid prices (1767–3135 €/t) would be needed to achieve a net present value equal to zero. The alternative of feed-in tariffs biomethane subsidies needs high values (121.1–269.4 €/MW) to reach profitable scenarios. These unsuccessful profitability results are ascribed to high consumables costs, mainly associated with the catalytic conversion of a CO2-rich feedstock. A 80% reduction of catalysts costs can considerably improve net present value up to 50%. This result indicates that further research is needed to find econimocally appealing catalysts to perform this process. The effect of biomethane subsidies as percentage of investment was also considered, evidencing encouraging results for small scale plants.

Suggested Citation

  • Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Pastor-Pérez, Laura & Zhang, Zhien & Reina, T.R., 2020. "Stepping towards a low-carbon economy. Formic acid from biogas as case of study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:268:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920305456
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920305456
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115033?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Xiaoqiang & Nordlander, Eva & Thorin, Eva & Yan, Jinyue, 2013. "Microalgal biomethane production integrated with an existing biogas plant: A case study in Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 478-484.
    2. Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2014. "Emergy analysis of a biogas-linked agricultural system in rural China – A case study in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 173-182.
    3. Šprajc, Polona & Bjegović, Miroslav & Vasić, Bojana, 2019. "Energy security in decision making and governance - Methodological analysis of energy trilemma index," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Pérez-Fortes, Mar & Schöneberger, Jan C. & Boulamanti, Aikaterini & Tzimas, Evangelos, 2016. "Methanol synthesis using captured CO2 as raw material: Techno-economic and environmental assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 718-732.
    5. Blanco, Herib & Nijs, Wouter & Ruf, Johannes & Faaij, André, 2018. "Potential for hydrogen and Power-to-Liquid in a low-carbon EU energy system using cost optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 617-639.
    6. Vega, F. & Baena-Moreno, F.M. & Gallego Fernández, Luz M. & Portillo, E. & Navarrete, B. & Zhang, Zhien, 2020. "Current status of CO2 chemical absorption research applied to CCS: Towards full deployment at industrial scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    7. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Rodríguez-Galán, Mónica & Vega, Fernando & Reina, T.R. & Vilches, Luis F. & Navarrete, Benito, 2019. "Converting CO2 from biogas and MgCl2 residues into valuable magnesium carbonate: A novel strategy for renewable energy production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 457-464.
    8. Unknown, 2016. "Energy for Sustainable Development," Conference Proceedings 253270, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies (IDSAsr).
    9. Götz, Manuel & Lefebvre, Jonathan & Mörs, Friedemann & McDaniel Koch, Amy & Graf, Frank & Bajohr, Siegfried & Reimert, Rainer & Kolb, Thomas, 2016. "Renewable Power-to-Gas: A technological and economic review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1371-1390.
    10. Blanco, Herib & Nijs, Wouter & Ruf, Johannes & Faaij, André, 2018. "Potential of Power-to-Methane in the EU energy transition to a low carbon system using cost optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 323-340.
    11. Schipfer, Fabian & Kranzl, Lukas, 2019. "Techno-economic evaluation of biomass-to-end-use chains based on densified bioenergy carriers (dBECs)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 715-724.
    12. Mirkouei, Amin & Haapala, Karl R. & Sessions, John & Murthy, Ganti S., 2017. "A review and future directions in techno-economic modeling and optimization of upstream forest biomass to bio-oil supply chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 15-35.
    13. Estelle le Saché & Sarah Johnson & Laura Pastor-Pérez & Bahman Amini Horri & Tomas R. Reina, 2019. "Biogas Upgrading Via Dry Reforming Over a Ni-Sn/CeO 2 -Al 2 O 3 Catalyst: Influence of the Biogas Source," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, March.
    14. Lombardi, Lidia & Carnevale, Ennio, 2013. "Economic evaluations of an innovative biogas upgrading method with CO2 storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 88-94.
    15. Sun, Qie & Li, Hailong & Yan, Jinying & Liu, Longcheng & Yu, Zhixin & Yu, Xinhai, 2015. "Selection of appropriate biogas upgrading technology-a review of biogas cleaning, upgrading and utilisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 521-532.
    16. Hosseini, Seyed Ehsan & Wahid, Mazlan Abdul, 2016. "Hydrogen production from renewable and sustainable energy resources: Promising green energy carrier for clean development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 850-866.
    17. Nikolaidis, Pavlos & Poullikkas, Andreas, 2017. "A comparative overview of hydrogen production processes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 597-611.
    18. Hakawati, Rawan & Smyth, Beatrice M. & McCullough, Geoffrey & De Rosa, Fabio & Rooney, David, 2017. "What is the most energy efficient route for biogas utilization: Heat, electricity or transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1076-1087.
    19. Lantz, Mikael, 2012. "The economic performance of combined heat and power from biogas produced from manure in Sweden – A comparison of different CHP technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 502-511.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bose, A. & O'Shea, R. & Lin, R. & Long, A. & Rajendran, K. & Wall, D. & De, S. & Murphy, J.D., 2022. "Evaluation of a biomethane, food and biofertiliser polygeneration system in a circular economy system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    2. Yanbo Wang & Boyao Zhi & Shumin Xiang & Guangxin Ren & Yongzhong Feng & Gaihe Yang & Xiaojiao Wang, 2023. "China’s Biogas Industry’s Sustainable Transition to a Low-Carbon Plan—A Socio-Technical Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Liu, Tianyu & Wen, Chang & Li, Changkang & Yan, Kai & Li, Rui & Jing, Zhenqi & Zhang, Bohan & Ma, Jingjing, 2022. "Integrated water washing and carbonization pretreatment of typical herbaceous and woody biomass: Fuel properties, combustion behaviors, and techno-economic assessments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 218-233.
    4. Jianping Gu & Yi Li & Jingke Hong & Lu Wang, 2024. "Carbon emissions cap or energy technology subsidies? Exploring the carbon reduction policy based on a multi-technology sectoral DSGE model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Silva, J. & Gonçalves, J.C. & Rocha, C. & Vilaça, J. & Madeira, L.M., 2024. "Biomethane production from biogas obtained in wastewater treatment plants: Process optimization and economic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    6. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Gonzalez-Castaño, Miriam & Arellano-García, Harvey & Reina, T.R., 2021. "Exploring profitability of bioeconomy paths: Dimethyl ether from biogas as case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Quarton, Christopher J. & Samsatli, Sheila, 2020. "The value of hydrogen and carbon capture, storage and utilisation in decarbonising energy: Insights from integrated value chain optimisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    2. McDonagh, Shane & Ahmed, Shorif & Desmond, Cian & Murphy, Jerry D, 2020. "Hydrogen from offshore wind: Investor perspective on the profitability of a hybrid system including for curtailment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    3. Lopes, J.V.M. & Bresciani, A.E. & Carvalho, K.M. & Kulay, L.A. & Alves, R.M.B., 2021. "Multi-criteria decision approach to select carbon dioxide and hydrogen sources as potential raw materials for the production of chemicals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Capros, Pantelis & Zazias, Georgios & Evangelopoulou, Stavroula & Kannavou, Maria & Fotiou, Theofano & Siskos, Pelopidas & De Vita, Alessia & Sakellaris, Konstantinos, 2019. "Energy-system modelling of the EU strategy towards climate-neutrality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Barbara Uliasz-Misiak & Joanna Lewandowska-Śmierzchalska & Rafał Matuła & Radosław Tarkowski, 2022. "Prospects for the Implementation of Underground Hydrogen Storage in the EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Jahangiri, Mehdi & Rezaei, Mostafa & Mostafaeipour, Ali & Goojani, Afsaneh Raiesi & Saghaei, Hamed & Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Jalaladdin & Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Shahabaddin, 2022. "Prioritization of solar electricity and hydrogen co-production stations considering PV losses and different types of solar trackers: A TOPSIS approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 889-903.
    7. Lee, Boreum & Lim, Dongjun & Lee, Hyunjun & Byun, Manhee & Lim, Hankwon, 2021. "Techno-economic analysis of H2 energy storage system based on renewable energy certificate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 91-98.
    8. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Sebastia-Saez, Daniel & Pastor-Pérez, Laura & Reina, Tomas Ramirez, 2021. "Analysis of the potential for biogas upgrading to syngas via catalytic reforming in the United Kingdom," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Morteza Aien & Omid Mahdavi, 2020. "On the Way of Policy Making to Reduce the Reliance of Fossil Fuels: Case Study of Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.
    10. Kolb, Sebastian & Plankenbühler, Thomas & Hofmann, Katharina & Bergerson, Joule & Karl, Jürgen, 2021. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable gas technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    11. Tarkowski, R. & Uliasz-Misiak, B., 2022. "Towards underground hydrogen storage: A review of barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. Decker, Maximilian & Schorn, Felix & Samsun, Remzi Can & Peters, Ralf & Stolten, Detlef, 2019. "Off-grid power-to-fuel systems for a market launch scenario – A techno-economic assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1099-1109.
    13. Belderbos, Andreas & Valkaert, Thomas & Bruninx, Kenneth & Delarue, Erik & D’haeseleer, William, 2020. "Facilitating renewables and power-to-gas via integrated electrical power-gas system scheduling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    14. Wenhui Zhao & Jibin Ma & Zhanyang Wang & Youting Li & Weishi Zhang, 2022. "Potential Hydrogen Market: Value-Added Services Increase Economic Efficiency for Hydrogen Energy Suppliers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    15. Janke, Leandro & McDonagh, Shane & Weinrich, Sören & Murphy, Jerry & Nilsson, Daniel & Hansson, Per-Anders & Nordberg, Åke, 2020. "Optimizing power-to-H2 participation in the Nord Pool electricity market: Effects of different bidding strategies on plant operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 820-836.
    16. Eveloy, Valerie, 2019. "Hybridization of solid oxide electrolysis-based power-to-methane with oxyfuel combustion and carbon dioxide utilization for energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 550-571.
    17. Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul & Dickson, Rofice & Ali Shah, Syed Fahad & Niaz, Haider & Khan, Amin & Liu, J. Jay & Lee, Moonyong, 2021. "Availability, versatility, and viability of feedstocks for hydrogen production: Product space perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    18. Abdin, Zainul & Zafaranloo, Ali & Rafiee, Ahmad & Mérida, Walter & Lipiński, Wojciech & Khalilpour, Kaveh R., 2020. "Hydrogen as an energy vector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Samuel Simon Araya & Vincenzo Liso & Xiaoti Cui & Na Li & Jimin Zhu & Simon Lennart Sahlin & Søren Højgaard Jensen & Mads Pagh Nielsen & Søren Knudsen Kær, 2020. "A Review of The Methanol Economy: The Fuel Cell Route," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-32, January.
    20. Stavroula Evangelopoulou & Alessia De Vita & Georgios Zazias & Pantelis Capros, 2019. "Energy System Modelling of Carbon-Neutral Hydrogen as an Enabler of Sectoral Integration within a Decarbonization Pathway," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-24, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:268:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920305456. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.