Technical design, economic and environmental assessment of a biorefinery concept for the integration of biomethane and hydrogen into the transport sector
Hendrik Etzold, Lilli Röder, Katja Oehmichen, Roy Nitzsche
Abstract
This study presents a novel biorefinery concept to produce liquefied renewable methane as fuel for the transport sector and fertilizers as secondary products. The concept is an important approach to providing low-emission fuels from waste and hydrogen. A biorefinery was simulated that converts 3.22 t of wheat straw (=̂ 14.28 MW) and 3.22 t of cattle manure (=̂ 1.38 MW) annually. The material biomass utilization efficiency is 18.3 %, and the energetic biomass utilization efficiency is 16.9 %. The energy conversion efficiency for the liquefied renewable methane is 33.4 %, and the entire biorefinery 52.8 %. The assessment shows specific production costs of 2179 EUR/t and 20.3 g CO2-eq. per MJ greenhouse gas emissions for the liquefied renewable methane. The concept can produce low-emission methane that is economically competitive through emissions trading revenues. The evaluation identifies weaknesses and opportunities for improvement for implementation on a larger scale.