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The role of biomass in California's hydrogen economy

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  • Parker, Nathan C.
  • Ogden, Joan M.
  • Fan, Yueyue

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a model of hydrogen production from waste biomass in California. We develop a profit-maximizing model of a biomass hydrogen industry from field to vehicle tank. This model is used to estimate the economic potential for hydrogen production from two waste biomass resources in Northern California--wheat straw and rice straw--taking into account the on the ground geographic dimensions of both biomass supply and hydrogen demand. The systems analysis approach allows for explicit consideration of the interactions between feedstock collection, hydrogen production, and hydrogen distribution in finding the optimal system design. This case study approach provides insight into both the real-world potential and the real-world cost of producing hydrogen from waste biomass. Additional context is provided through the estimation of California's total waste biomass hydrogen potential. We find that enough biomass is available from waste sources to provide up to 40% of the current California passenger car fuel demand as hydrogen. Optimized supply chains result in delivered hydrogen costing between $3/kg and $5.50/kg with one-tenth of the well-to-wheels greenhouse gas emissions of conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles.

Suggested Citation

  • Parker, Nathan C. & Ogden, Joan M. & Fan, Yueyue, 2008. "The role of biomass in California's hydrogen economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3925-3939, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:10:p:3925-3939
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Parker, Nathan C, 2007. "Optimizing the Design of Biomass Hydrogen Supply Chains Using Real-World Spatial Distributions: A Case Study Using California Rice Straw," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt8sp9n37c, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Morrison, Geoffrey M. & Kumar, Ravindra & Chugh, Sachin & Puri, S. K. & Tuli, D. K. & Malhotra, R. K., 2011. "Hydrogen Transportation in Dehli? Investigating the Hydrogen Compressed Natural Gas (H-CNG) Option," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5hg3r4pn, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    3. Yueyue Fan & Allen Lee & Nathan Parker & Daniel Scheitrum & Rosa Dominguez-Faus & Amy Myers Jaffe & Kenneth Medlock III, 2017. "Geospatial, Temporal and Economic Analysis of Alternative Fuel Infrastructure: The case of freight and U.S. natural gas markets," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 6).
    4. Yongxi (Eric) Huang & Yueyue Fan & Chien-Wei Chen, 2014. "An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain to Cope with Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 540-554, November.
    5. Holtermann, Timm & Madlener, Reinhard, 2011. "Assessment of the technological development and economic potential of photobioreactors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 1906-1919, May.
    6. Ren, Jingzheng & Gao, Suzhao & Tan, Shiyu & Dong, Lichun & Scipioni, Antonio & Mazzi, Anna, 2015. "Role prioritization of hydrogen production technologies for promoting hydrogen economy in the current state of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1217-1229.
    7. Zhang, Cong & Greenblatt, Jeffery B. & Wei, Max & Eichman, Josh & Saxena, Samveg & Muratori, Matteo & Guerra, Omar J., 2020. "Flexible grid-based electrolysis hydrogen production for fuel cell vehicles reduces costs and greenhouse gas emissions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    8. Fengyuan Yan & Xiaolong Han & Qianwei Cheng & Yamin Yan & Qi Liao & Yongtu Liang, 2022. "Scenario-Based Comparative Analysis for Coupling Electricity and Hydrogen Storage in Clean Oilfield Energy Supply System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-28, March.

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