IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i5p1608-d755296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Holistic View on Synthetic Natural Gas Production: A Technical, Economic and Environmental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Estefania Vega Puga

    (Institute of Future Fuels, German Aerospace Center, Linder Hoehe, 51147 Cologne, Germany)

  • Gkiokchan Moumin

    (Institute of Future Fuels, German Aerospace Center, Linder Hoehe, 51147 Cologne, Germany)

  • Nicole Carina Neumann

    (Institute of Future Fuels, German Aerospace Center, Linder Hoehe, 51147 Cologne, Germany)

  • Martin Roeb

    (Institute of Future Fuels, German Aerospace Center, Linder Hoehe, 51147 Cologne, Germany)

  • Armin Ardone

    (Institute for Industrial Production, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Christian Sattler

    (Institute of Future Fuels, German Aerospace Center, Linder Hoehe, 51147 Cologne, Germany)

Abstract

Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) is the most researched option for a Power-to-Fuel pathway in Germany after hydrogen, having the advantage of being compatible with the existing infrastructure. However, it is not clear under which conditions SNG is economically and environmentally advantageous compared to natural gas usage, since this is determined by a complex interplay of many factors. This study analyzes the technical, economic and environmental aspects of a pilot SNG plant to determine the key parameters for profitable and sustainable operation. The SNG plant was simulated in Aspen Plus ® with CO 2 from biogas production as a feedstock and with hydrogen provided by a 1 MW el electrolyzer unit. A life cycle analysis (LCA) was undertaken considering several impact categories with a special focus on global warming potential (GWP). An SNG cost of 0.33–4.22 €/kWh th was calculated, depending on factors such as operational hours, electricity price and type of electrolyzer. It was found that the CO 2 price has a negligible effect on the SNG cost, while the electricity is the main cost driver. This shows that significant cost reductions will be needed for SNG to be competitive with natural gas. For the investigated scenarios, a CO 2 tax of at least 1442 €/t was determined, calling for more drastic measures. Considering the global warming potential, only an operation with an emission factor of electricity below 121 g CO 2 -eq/kWh el leads to a reduction in emissions. This demonstrates that unless renewable energies are implemented at a much higher rate than predicted, no sustainable SNG production before 2050 will be possible in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Estefania Vega Puga & Gkiokchan Moumin & Nicole Carina Neumann & Martin Roeb & Armin Ardone & Christian Sattler, 2022. "Holistic View on Synthetic Natural Gas Production: A Technical, Economic and Environmental Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:5:p:1608-:d:755296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/5/1608/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/5/1608/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bailera, Manuel & Lisbona, Pilar & Romeo, Luis M. & Espatolero, Sergio, 2017. "Power to Gas projects review: Lab, pilot and demo plants for storing renewable energy and CO2," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 292-312.
    2. König, Daniel H. & Baucks, Nadine & Dietrich, Ralph-Uwe & Wörner, Antje, 2015. "Simulation and evaluation of a process concept for the generation of synthetic fuel from CO2 and H2," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 833-841.
    3. Becker, W.L. & Braun, R.J. & Penev, M. & Melaina, M., 2012. "Production of Fischer–Tropsch liquid fuels from high temperature solid oxide co-electrolysis units," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 99-115.
    4. 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.
    5. Mohseni, Farzad & Görling, Martin & Alvfors, Per, 2013. "The competitiveness of synthetic natural gas as a propellant in the Swedish fuel market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 810-818.
    6. Parra, David & Zhang, Xiaojin & Bauer, Christian & Patel, Martin K., 2017. "An integrated techno-economic and life cycle environmental assessment of power-to-gas systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 440-454.
    7. Collet, Pierre & Flottes, Eglantine & Favre, Alain & Raynal, Ludovic & Pierre, Hélène & Capela, Sandra & Peregrina, Carlos, 2017. "Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessment of methane production via biogas upgrading and power to gas technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 282-295.
    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. Bareiß, Kay & de la Rua, Cristina & Möckl, Maximilian & Hamacher, Thomas, 2019. "Life cycle assessment of hydrogen from proton exchange membrane water electrolysis in future energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 862-872.
    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. Guido Busca & Elena Spennati & Paola Riani & Gabriella Garbarino, 2023. "Looking for an Optimal Composition of Nickel-Based Catalysts for CO 2 Methanation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Rilling, Benedikt & Kurz, Peter & Herbes, Carsten, 2024. "Renewable gases in the heating market: Identifying consumer preferences through a Discrete Choice Experiment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Alberto Abánades & Jesús Frías, 2022. "Economic Evaluation of Implementation of Power-to-Gas: Application to the Case of Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, March.
    4. 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).

    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. Bongartz, Dominik & Doré, Larissa & Eichler, Katharina & Grube, Thomas & Heuser, Benedikt & Hombach, Laura E. & Robinius, Martin & Pischinger, Stefan & Stolten, Detlef & Walther, Grit & Mitsos, Alexan, 2018. "Comparison of light-duty transportation fuels produced from renewable hydrogen and green carbon dioxide," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 757-767.
    2. Koj, Jan Christian & Wulf, Christina & Zapp, Petra, 2019. "Environmental impacts of power-to-X systems - A review of technological and methodological choices in Life Cycle Assessments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 865-879.
    3. 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.
    4. Strübing, Dietmar & Moeller, Andreas B. & Mößnang, Bettina & Lebuhn, Michael & Drewes, Jörg E. & Koch, Konrad, 2018. "Anaerobic thermophilic trickle bed reactor as a promising technology for flexible and demand-oriented H2/CO2 biomethanation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 543-554.
    5. Kirchbacher, F. & Miltner, M. & Wukovits, W. & Harasek, M., 2019. "Economic assessment of membrane-based power-to-gas processes for the European biogas market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 338-352.
    6. Blanco, Herib & Faaij, André, 2018. "A review at the role of storage in energy systems with a focus on Power to Gas and long-term storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1049-1086.
    7. Lewandowska-Bernat, Anna & Desideri, Umberto, 2018. "Opportunities of power-to-gas technology in different energy systems architectures," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 57-67.
    8. Bailera, Manuel & Peña, Begoña & Lisbona, Pilar & Romeo, Luis M., 2018. "Decision-making methodology for managing photovoltaic surplus electricity through Power to Gas: Combined heat and power in urban buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1032-1045.
    9. Inkeri, Eero & Tynjälä, Tero & Karjunen, Hannu, 2021. "Significance of methanation reactor dynamics on the annual efficiency of power-to-gas -system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1113-1126.
    10. Hermesmann, M. & Grübel, K. & Scherotzki, L. & Müller, T.E., 2021. "Promising pathways: The geographic and energetic potential of power-to-x technologies based on regeneratively obtained hydrogen," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. 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).
    12. Qi, Meng & Park, Jinwoo & Landon, Robert Stephen & Kim, Jeongdong & Liu, Yi & Moon, Il, 2022. "Continuous and flexible Renewable-Power-to-Methane via liquid CO2 energy storage: Revisiting the techno-economic potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    13. Zoltán Csedő & Botond Sinóros-Szabó & Máté Zavarkó, 2020. "Seasonal Energy Storage Potential Assessment of WWTPs with Power-to-Methane Technology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    14. Freire Ordóñez, Diego & Shah, Nilay & Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo, 2021. "Economic and full environmental assessment of electrofuels via electrolysis and co-electrolysis considering externalities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    15. 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.
    16. McDonagh, Shane & Deane, Paul & Rajendran, Karthik & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Are electrofuels a sustainable transport fuel? Analysis of the effect of controls on carbon, curtailment, and cost of hydrogen," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 716-730.
    17. Michael Heberl & Christian Withelm & Anja Kaul & Daniel Rank & Michael Sterner, 2024. "Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Biological Methanation in a Trickle-Bed Pilot Plant and a Potential Scale-Up," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-15, May.
    18. Moioli, Emanuele & Schildhauer, Tilman, 2022. "Negative CO2 emissions from flexible biofuel synthesis: Concepts, potentials, technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Bassano, Claudia & Deiana, Paolo & Vilardi, Giorgio & Verdone, Nicola, 2020. "Modeling and economic evaluation of carbon capture and storage technologies integrated into synthetic natural gas and power-to-gas plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    20. Herz, Gregor & Rix, Christopher & Jacobasch, Eric & Müller, Nils & Reichelt, Erik & Jahn, Matthias & Michaelis, Alexander, 2021. "Economic assessment of Power-to-Liquid processes – Influence of electrolysis technology and operating conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).

    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:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:5:p:1608-:d:755296. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.