IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v279y2020ics0306261920313507.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Combining expansion in pulp capacity with production of sustainable biofuels – Techno-economic and greenhouse gas emissions assessment of drop-in fuels from black liquor part-streams

Author

Listed:
  • Jafri, Yawer
  • Wetterlund, Elisabeth
  • Mesfun, Sennai
  • Rådberg, Henrik
  • Mossberg, Johanna
  • Hulteberg, Christian
  • Furusjö, Erik

Abstract

Drop-in biofuels from forest by-products such as black liquor can help deliver deep reductions in transport greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuels in our vehicle fleet. Black liquor is produced at pulp mills that can increase their pulping capacity by upgrading some of it to drop-in biofuels but this is not well-studied. We evaluate the techno-economic and greenhouse gas performance of five drop-in biofuel pathways based on BL lignin separation with hydrotreatment or black liquor gasification with catalytic synthesis. We also assess how integrated biofuel production impacts different types of pulp mills and a petroleum refinery by using energy and material balances assembled from experimental data supplemented by expert input. Our results indicate that drop-in biofuels from black liquor part-streams can be produced for ~80 EUR2017/MWh, which puts black liquor on the same footing (or better) as comparable forest residue-based alternatives. The best pathways in both production routes have comparable costs and their principal biofuel products (petrol for black liquor gasification and diesel for lignin hydrotreatment) complement each other. All pathways surpass European Union’s sustainability criteria for greenhouse gas savings from new plants. Supplementing black liquor with pyrolysis oil or electrolysis hydrogen can improve biofuel production potentials and feedstock diversity, but better economic performance does not accompany these benefits. Fossil hydrogen represents the cheaper option for lignin hydrotreatment by some margin, but greenhouse gas savings from renewable hydrogen are nearly twice as great. Research on lignin upgrading in industrial conditions is recommended for reducing the presently significant performance uncertainties.

Suggested Citation

  • Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Mesfun, Sennai & Rådberg, Henrik & Mossberg, Johanna & Hulteberg, Christian & Furusjö, Erik, 2020. "Combining expansion in pulp capacity with production of sustainable biofuels – Techno-economic and greenhouse gas emissions assessment of drop-in fuels from black liquor part-streams," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:279:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920313507
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920313507
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115879?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. Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Anheden, Marie & Kulander, Ida & Håkansson, Åsa & Furusjö, Erik, 2019. "Multi-aspect evaluation of integrated forest-based biofuel production pathways: Part 1. Product yields & energetic performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 401-413.
    2. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Publisher Correction: Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 347-347, April.
    3. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(3), pages 216-222, March.
    4. Hannula, Ilkka, 2016. "Hydrogen enhancement potential of synthetic biofuels manufacture in the European context: A techno-economic assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 199-212.
    5. Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Anheden, Marie & Kulander, Ida & Håkansson, Åsa & Furusjö, Erik, 2019. "Multi-aspect evaluation of integrated forest-based biofuel production pathways: Part 2. economics, GHG emissions, technology maturity and production potentials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1312-1328.
    6. Carvalho, Lara & Lundgren, Joakim & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Wolf, Jens & Furusjö, Erik, 2018. "Methanol production via black liquor co-gasification with expanded raw material base – Techno-economic assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 570-584.
    7. Maria Grahn & Julia Hansson, 2015. "Prospects for domestic biofuels for transport in Sweden 2030 based on current production and future plans," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 290-306, May.
    8. Brynolf, Selma & Taljegard, Maria & Grahn, Maria & Hansson, Julia, 2018. "Electrofuels for the transport sector: A review of production costs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1887-1905.
    9. Chiaramonti, David & Goumas, Theodor, 2019. "Impacts on industrial-scale market deployment of advanced biofuels and recycled carbon fuels from the EU Renewable Energy Directive II," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    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. Julia Hansson & Sofia Klugman & Tomas Lönnqvist & Nilay Elginoz & Julia Granacher & Pavinee Hasselberg & Fredrik Hedman & Nora Efraimsson & Sofie Johnsson & Sofia Poulikidou & Sahar Safarian & Kåre Tj, 2023. "Biodiesel from Bark and Black Liquor—A Techno-Economic, Social, and Environmental Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Sennai Mesfun & Gabriel Gustafsson & Anton Larsson & Mahrokh Samavati & Erik Furusjö, 2023. "Electrification of Biorefinery Concepts for Improved Productivity—Yield, Economic and GHG Performances," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Kumar, Vineet & Malyan, Sandeep Kumar & Apollon, Wilgince & Verma, Pradeep, 2024. "Valorization of pulp and paper industry waste streams into bioenergy and value-added products: An integrated biorefinery approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    4. Zetterholm, Jonas & Mossberg, Johanna & Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth, 2022. "We need stable, long-term policy support! — Evaluating the economic rationale behind the prevalent investor lament for forest-based biofuel production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(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. Stöckl, Fabian & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2021. "Optimal supply chains and power sector benefits of green hydrogen," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11.
    2. Martin, Jonas & Neumann, Anne & Ødegård, Anders, 2023. "Renewable hydrogen and synthetic fuels versus fossil fuels for trucking, shipping and aviation: A holistic cost model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Zainal, Bidattul Syirat & Ker, Pin Jern & Mohamed, Hassan & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Fattah, I.M.R. & Rahman, S.M. Ashrafur & Nghiem, Long D. & Mahlia, T M Indra, 2024. "Recent advancement and assessment of green hydrogen production technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    4. Choe, Changgwon & Cheon, Seunghyun & Kim, Heehyang & Lim, Hankwon, 2023. "Mitigating climate change for negative CO2 emission via syngas methanation: Techno-economic and life-cycle assessments of renewable methane production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    5. Zhuk, A.Z. & Borzenko, V.I. & Buzoverov, E.A. & Ivanov, P.P. & Shkolnikov, E.I., 2022. "Comparative analysis of hydrogen production technologies: Hydrothermal oxidation of the "carbonless" aluminum and water electrolysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 1244-1250.
    6. Bucksteeg, Michael & Mikurda, Jennifer & Weber, Christoph, 2023. "Integration of power-to-gas into electricity markets during the ramp-up phase—Assessing the role of carbon pricing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    7. Simonas Cerniauskas & Thomas Grube & Aaron Praktiknjo & Detlef Stolten & Martin Robinius, 2019. "Future Hydrogen Markets for Transportation and Industry: The Impact of CO 2 Taxes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Abadie, Luis Mª & Chamorro, José M., 2023. "Investment in wind-based hydrogen production under economic and physical uncertainties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    9. Shaojie Song & Haiyang Lin & Peter Sherman & Xi Yang & Chris P. Nielsen & Xinyu Chen & Michael B. McElroy, 2021. "Production of hydrogen from offshore wind in China and cost-competitive supply to Japan," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    10. Ringkjøb, Hans-Kristian & Haugan, Peter M. & Nybø, Astrid, 2020. "Transitioning remote Arctic settlements to renewable energy systems – A modelling study of Longyearbyen, Svalbard," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    11. Chauvy, Remi & Dubois, Lionel & Lybaert, Paul & Thomas, Diane & De Weireld, Guy, 2020. "Production of synthetic natural gas from industrial carbon dioxide," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    12. Xu, Chuanbo & Wu, Yunna & Dai, Shuyu, 2020. "What are the critical barriers to the development of hydrogen refueling stations in China? A modified fuzzy DEMATEL approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Shen, Xiaojun & Li, Xingyi & Yuan, Jiahai & Jin, Yu, 2022. "A hydrogen-based zero-carbon microgrid demonstration in renewable-rich remote areas: System design and economic feasibility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    14. Speckmann, Friedrich-W. & Keiner, Dominik & Birke, Kai Peter, 2020. "Influence of rectifiers on the techno-economic performance of alkaline electrolysis in a smart grid environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 107-116.
    15. Pan, Guangsheng & Gu, Wei & Chen, Sheng & Lu, Yuping & Zhou, Suyang & Wei, Zhinong, 2021. "Investment equilibrium of an integrated multi–stakeholder electricity–gas–hydrogen system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    16. Lucas Bretschger & Karen Pittel, 2020. "Twenty Key Challenges in Environmental and Resource Economics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(4), pages 725-750, December.
    17. Rosa, Lorenzo & Mazzotti, Marco, 2022. "Potential for hydrogen production from sustainable biomass with carbon capture and storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs, 2021. "LCOE: A Useful and Valid Indicator—Replica to James Loewen and Adam Szymanski," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-8, January.
    19. Lüth, Alexandra & Seifert, Paul E. & Egging-Bratseth, Ruud & Weibezahn, Jens, 2023. "How to connect energy islands: Trade-offs between hydrogen and electricity infrastructure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    20. Nyangon, Joseph & Darekar, Ayesha, 2024. "Advancements in hydrogen energy systems: A review of levelized costs, financial incentives and technological innovations," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 3(3).

    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:279:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920313507. 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.