IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v4y2015i2p398-411d51321.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Life-Cycle Performance of Hydrogen Production via Biofuel Reforming in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Susmozas

    (Systems Analysis Unit, Instituto IMDEA Energía, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, Móstoles E-28935, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Diego Iribarren

    (Systems Analysis Unit, Instituto IMDEA Energía, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, Móstoles E-28935, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Javier Dufour

    (Systems Analysis Unit, Instituto IMDEA Energía, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, Móstoles E-28935, Spain
    Department of Chemical and Energy Technology, Rey Juan Carlos University, St. Tulipán s/n, Móstoles E-28933, Spain)

Abstract

Currently, hydrogen is mainly produced through steam reforming of natural gas. However, this conventional process involves environmental and energy security concerns. This has led to the development of alternative technologies for (potentially) green hydrogen production. In this work, the environmental and energy performance of biohydrogen produced in Europe via steam reforming of glycerol and bio-oil is evaluated from a life-cycle perspective, and contrasted with that of conventional hydrogen from steam methane reforming. Glycerol as a by-product from the production of rapeseed biodiesel and bio-oil from the fast pyrolysis of poplar biomass are considered. The processing plants are simulated in Aspen Plus ® to provide inventory data for the life cycle assessment. The environmental impact potentials evaluated include abiotic depletion, global warming, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, land competition, acidification and eutrophication. Furthermore, the cumulative (total and non-renewable) energy demand is calculated, as well as the corresponding renewability scores and life-cycle energy balances and efficiencies of the biohydrogen products. In addition to quantitative evidence of the (expected) relevance of the feedstock and impact categories considered, results show that poplar-derived bio-oil could be a suitable feedstock for steam reforming, in contrast to first-generation bioglycerol.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Susmozas & Diego Iribarren & Javier Dufour, 2015. "Assessing the Life-Cycle Performance of Hydrogen Production via Biofuel Reforming in Europe," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:4:y:2015:i:2:p:398-411:d:51321
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/4/2/398/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/4/2/398/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dufour, Javier & Iribarren, Diego, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from free fatty acid-rich wastes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 155-162.
    2. Chaubey, Rashmi & Sahu, Satanand & James, Olusola O. & Maity, Sudip, 2013. "A review on development of industrial processes and emerging techniques for production of hydrogen from renewable and sustainable sources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 443-462.
    3. Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Wu, Xuan & Leung, M.K.H., 2010. "A review on biodiesel production using catalyzed transesterification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 1083-1095, April.
    4. Dou, Binlin & Song, Yongchen & Wang, Chao & Chen, Haisheng & Xu, Yujie, 2014. "Hydrogen production from catalytic steam reforming of biodiesel byproduct glycerol: Issues and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 950-960.
    5. Vlysidis, Anestis & Binns, Michael & Webb, Colin & Theodoropoulos, Constantinos, 2011. "A techno-economic analysis of biodiesel biorefineries: Assessment of integrated designs for the co-production of fuels and chemicals," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 4671-4683.
    6. Sun, Shaohui & Yan, Wei & Sun, Peiqin & Chen, Junwu, 2012. "Thermodynamic analysis of ethanol reforming for hydrogen production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 911-924.
    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. Ana Donke & Alex Nogueira & Patricia Matai & Luiz Kulay, 2016. "Environmental and Energy Performance of Ethanol Production from the Integration of Sugarcane, Corn, and Grain Sorghum in a Multipurpose Plant," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Hren, Robert & Vujanović, Annamaria & Van Fan, Yee & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Krajnc, Damjan & Čuček, Lidija, 2023. "Hydrogen production, storage and transport for renewable energy and chemicals: An environmental footprint assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(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. Chen, Guanyi & Tao, Junyu & Liu, Caixia & Yan, Beibei & Li, Wanqing & Li, Xiangping, 2017. "Hydrogen production via acetic acid steam reforming: A critical review on catalysts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1091-1098.
    2. Baruah, Renika & Dixit, Marm & Basarkar, Pratik & Parikh, Dhrupad & Bhargav, Atul, 2015. "Advances in ethanol autothermal reforming," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1345-1353.
    3. Navarro-Pineda, Freddy S. & Baz-Rodríguez, Sergio A. & Handler, Robert & Sacramento-Rivero, Julio C., 2016. "Advances on the processing of Jatropha curcas towards a whole-crop biorefinery," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 247-269.
    4. Hou, Tengfei & Zhang, Shaoyin & Chen, Yongdong & Wang, Dazhi & Cai, Weijie, 2015. "Hydrogen production from ethanol reforming: Catalysts and reaction mechanism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 132-148.
    5. Cuevas-Castillo, Gabriela A. & Navarro-Pineda, Freddy S. & Baz Rodríguez, Sergio A. & Sacramento Rivero, Julio C., 2020. "Advances on the processing of microalgal biomass for energy-driven biorefineries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    6. Živković, Snežana B. & Veljković, Milan V. & Banković-Ilić, Ivana B. & Krstić, Ivan M. & Konstantinović, Sandra S. & Ilić, Slavica B. & Avramović, Jelena M. & Stamenković, Olivera S. & Veljković, Vlad, 2017. "Technological, technical, economic, environmental, social, human health risk, toxicological and policy considerations of biodiesel production and use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 222-247.
    7. Tsoutsos, Theocharis & Chatzakis, Michael & Sarantopoulos, Ioannis & Nikologiannis, Athanasios & Pasadakis, Nikos, 2013. "Effect of wastewater irrigation on biodiesel quality and productivity from castor and sunflower oil seeds," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 211-215.
    8. Zhao, Yaling & Zhao, Bin & Yao, Yanchen & Jia, Xiaohan & Peng, Xueyuan, 2024. "Experimental study and sensitivity analysis of performance for a hydrogen diaphragm compressor," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PD).
    9. Bergthorson, Jeffrey M. & Thomson, Murray J., 2015. "A review of the combustion and emissions properties of advanced transportation biofuels and their impact on existing and future engines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1393-1417.
    10. Ruxandra-Cristina Stanescu & Cristian-Ioan Leahu & Adrian Soica, 2023. "Aspects Regarding the Modelling and Optimization of the Transesterification Process through Temperature Control of the Chemical Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, March.
    11. Talebian-Kiakalaieh, Amin & Amin, Nor Aishah Saidina & Mazaheri, Hossein, 2013. "A review on novel processes of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 683-710.
    12. Chen, Chen & Jiao, Fan & Lu, Buchu & Liu, Taixiu & Long, Yibiao & Liu, Qibin & Jin, Hongguang, 2025. "Thermochemical water splitting cycles for hydrogen production: Perspectives for thermodynamic approaches," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    13. Zhang, X.L. & Yan, S. & Tyagi, R.D. & Surampalli, R.Y., 2013. "Biodiesel production from heterotrophic microalgae through transesterification and nanotechnology application in the production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 216-223.
    14. Aghajani Delavar, Mojtaba & Wang, Junye, 2022. "Three-dimensional modeling of photo fermentative biohydrogen generation in a microbioreactor," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1034-1045.
    15. Katagi, Kariyappa S. & Munnolli, Ravindra S. & Hosamani, Kallappa M., 2011. "Unique occurrence of unusual fatty acid in the seed oil of Aegle marmelos Corre: Screening the rich source of seed oil for bio-energy production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 1797-1802, May.
    16. Te Zhao & Chusheng Chen & Hong Ye, 2021. "CFD Simulation of Hydrogen Generation and Methane Combustion Inside a Water Splitting Membrane Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.
    17. Lech Nowicki & Dorota Siuta & Maciej Markowski, 2020. "Pyrolysis of Rapeseed Oil Press Cake and Steam Gasification of Solid Residues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-12, August.
    18. Blanco-Marigorta, A.M. & Suárez-Medina, J. & Vera-Castellano, A., 2013. "Exergetic analysis of a biodiesel production process from Jatropha curcas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 218-225.
    19. Verma, Puneet & Sharma, M.P., 2016. "Review of process parameters for biodiesel production from different feedstocks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1063-1071.
    20. Shao, Tianming & Pan, Xunzhang & Li, Xiang & Zhou, Sheng & Zhang, Shu & Chen, Wenying, 2022. "China's industrial decarbonization in the context of carbon neutrality: A sub-sectoral analysis based on integrated modelling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 170(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:jresou:v:4:y:2015:i:2:p:398-411:d:51321. 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.