Researchers have analyzed the potential implementation of green methanol from CO2 recording in existing industries, based on European GIS data. Although they found 9,213 theoretically feasible municipalities, the number of up to 3,016 decreased when considering the space required for a PV installation around the factory.
A research group from the Spanish University of Sevilla in Spain has analyzed the potential implementation of PV-driven green methanol of CO2-catch in Europe. With the help of a geographical information system (GIS), the analysis is aimed at CO2 recording of existing industries. Methanol is a promising candidate for green fuel, produced worldwide through CO and CO2 hydrogening processes.
“The work proposed studies the potential for e-methanol in the EU zone area from solar PV, based on a GIS study of future facilities based on water resource availability, solar resource, the capacity of the nearby land for solar photovoltaic plants, as well as the nodes of the nearby natural gas grid for the injection of Surplus hydrogen, and finally the proximity to energy-intensive industrial plants for the synthesis of CO2 and green H2 to green methanol, ”the team explained.
The group has established various preconditions for identifying methanol production sites. One of the preconditions is a water treatment station within 10 km, because 0.3 m³/h rough water is required per kg Heper to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis. Another border condition is the presence of a consumer of natural gas within 10 km, so that the methanol produced can be integrated into its use.
In addition, since CO2 is mixed with H2 to produce methanol, such plants require a CO2 emitter of at least 140,000 tons per year in their environment, which must be recorded with the help of chemical absorption with monuthanolamine (MEA). They also considered an urban zone within 10 km and a natural gas junction within 20 km. The latter is absorbed for the use of excess hydrogen from the plant in the natural gas grid.
“We found the potential for the production of green methanol in Europe, based on a geospatial analysis of 9,213 theoretically feasible municipalities, identified by their proximity to natural gas infrastructure, industrial CO2 sources and water treatment plants,” said the academics. “After applying land use filters, such as protection in urban and protected areas, as well as requirements for PV installations (50 MW on> 100 hectares), 3.016 technically viable municipalities are selected.
If we have this result, the team remained an economic evaluation based on three scenarios. The baseline scenario corresponds to the market conditions of 2023, with moderate hydrogen electrolyzer costs of € 1,350 ($ 1,563)/kW and CO2 prices of € 80/ton. The optimistic scenario assumes a falling Capex for green hydrogen of € 1,200/kW and lower CO2 recording costs of € 70/ton, while the conservative scenario provides the green hydrogen production capex of € 1,500/kW and CO2 recording costs of € 90/ton.
“The analysis projects a potential of approximately 30 Mton H2/year in PV to produce 5 Mton methanol, with a carbon collection capacity above 7 Mton CO2/year,” the researchers concluded. “The economic analysis of different scenarios shows that in 2030 the empty costs of methanol values can reach around € 450/Ton Meoh, with an internal return (IRR) of more than 15%, which shows the viability of the approach.”
Their findings were presented in “Green methanol production of photovoltaic in Europe“Published in Renewable energy.
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