ANAEROBIC DIGESTION: CUTTING-EDGE DEVELOPMENTS CONTRIBUTING TO CARBON NEUTRAL PRODUCTION Korneel Rabaey
8 nationalities. Common link: ELECTRIFICATION 2
CO 2 TO PRODUCT WATER FIT FOR USE PLASTICS TO RESOURCE
Coupling biomass digestion to centralized chemical production appears today the only route bringing profit to anaerobic digestion without subsidy in Europe It also enables considerable CO 2 fixation A chemistry-centric view on anaerobic digestion Verbeeck et al. Energy & Environmental Science 2018
Biogas valorization - On-site combustion: engines, turbines or CHP units - Upgrading and compression: vehicle fuel (CNG) or injected in the natural gas grid Primary biogas energy production (EU28) = 186 TWh (= 7% of total renewable energy production) 7 % 4 % 16 % 42 % 31 % Electricity “Losses” Heat Heat Biomethane (consumed) (sold) Biogas production is mainly incentivized via the power and heat sector 5 Multiple references
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Average biogas production cost = 140 € ton -1 biogas “Average” digester with an “average” organic feedstock CAPEX 5000 €/Nm³ /h 20 years depreciation, 3% interest OPEX 7.5 % of the investment sum per year Feedstock cost Free substrate (except for energy crops) 7
CASE 1 Combined Heat and Power (CHP) → break- even at an electricity price of 95 € MWh e -1 (or a subsidy of ± 60 € MWh e -1 ) Italy 280 € MWh -1 … A B 8
Biomethane production and injection increases overall biogas use Decoupling in: The natural gas grid provides large-scale and long-term biomethane storage Grid injection allows transmission of biomethane from the production sites to the end users Biomethane injection extends the valorization opportunities of biogas 9
Biomethane: a fast growing sector in Europe 10
Average biomethane production cost = 680 € ton -1 biomethane 2 – 5 times higher than the current 0.49 ± 0.16 € Nm -3 biomethane average EU price for natural gas 11
CASE 2 Grid injection of biomethane → break- even at a gas price of 45 € MWh -1 (or a subsidy of ± 35 € MWh -1 ) The Netherlands A 152 € MWh -1 … B 12
Biogas: a rather expensive renewable energy/methane source • P rofitability of investment in biogas/biomethane strongly depends on national supporting scheme • Hard to compete with non-biomass renewable energy sources if it comes to energy production -1 Biogas: 90 – 220 € MWh e -1 Solar PV projects: 50 – 90 € MWh e • Numerous biogas plants struggle for their economic existence: • higher prices for raw material, • lower feed-in tariffs • insufficient usage of waste heat 13
CH 4 is not just a fuel, it is a chemical feedstock! 14
Embed the carbon in chemicals (and fuels?), rather than burn SDR = SuperDry Reforming DRM = Dry Reforming of Methane SRM = Steam Reforming of Methane 15
Biomethane reforming allows CO 2 utilization in a chemical looping process Case A: Steam reforming Production of H 2 from biomethane Intensification of CO 2 conversion 𝐷𝐼 4 + 2𝐼 2 𝑃 → 4𝐼 2 + 𝐷𝑃 2 Case B: Dry (CO 2 ) reforming Production of syngas from biomethane 𝐷𝐼 4 + 𝐷𝑃 2 → 2𝐷𝑃 + 2𝐼 2 CO 2 use: 7.33 ton CO 2 / ton CH 4 Case C: ‘ Super- dry’ reforming CO production: 6.22 ton CO / ton CH 4 Production of CO from biomethane Buelens et al,. 2016, Science 𝐷𝐼 4 + 3𝐷𝑃 2 → 4𝐷𝑃 + 2𝐼 2 𝑃 16
Only the CO case generates profit CO Syngas H 2 17
CASE 3 Super-dry reforming of biomethane SDR DRM SRM 18
Industry can lower their emissions in a cost-effective way Avoided CO 2 emission taxes = 220 € ton -1 19
Feedstock quantification 1.31 Mton bio-CH 4 year -1 (2016) 1) bio-CH 4 GHG: 4.45 Gton CO 2, eq year -1 2) CO 2 66 % CO 2 : 2.94 Gton CO 2 year -1 8 % Industry: 290 Mton CO 2 year -1 CO 2 consumption for SDR Possible today: 10 Mton CO 2 year -1 (or 4 % of industrial emissions) Possible 2030: 38 Mton bio-CH 4 year -1 212 Mton CO 2 year -1 20
Feedstock quantification 1.31 Mton bio-CH 4 year -1 (2016) 1) bio-CH 4 GHG: 4.45 Gton CO 2, eq year -1 2) CO 2 66 % CO 2 : 2.94 Gton CO 2 year -1 8 % Industry: 290 Mton CO 2 year -1 Methanol production from CO Today: 13 Mton methanol year -1 (or 13% of global methanol demand) By 2030: 377 Mton methanol year -1 (or 400%) 21
Importance of CO in chemical synthesis 22
Fuels and raw chemicals Mt/year Mt C/year Mt CO/year Mt CO 2 /year Coal production ( 3 ) 7860 2360-6680 5500-15590 8650-24500 Oil production ( 3 ) 4400 3740 8800 13830 Global substrate Natural gas production ( 3 ) 2870 2190 5060 7950 potential for biogas 15130 8290-12610 19360-29450 30430-46280 production = 28 times Bulk chemicals current production Ethylene ( 1 ) a 154 132 308 484 Propylene ( 1 ) a 148 127 296 465 Olefins (via MTO process) (4) 11 9.4 22 35 Ethanol ( 5 ) 68 35.4 82.5 130 Methanol ( 1 ) a Ethanol to Ethylene 98 37 86 134 Methanol ( 2 ) 55 20.6 48 75 Formaldehyde ( 6 ) 30 12 28 44 Methanol to Olefins (MTO) Acetic acid ( 7 ) 6.5 1.3 3 5 560 365 852 1337 Other chemicals 57% of “industrial CO 2 ” can be Phosgene ( 8 ) 3 0.37 0.86 1.4 used as feedstock for chemicals Acetaldehyde ( 9 ) 1 0.30 0.60 0.94 Polycarbonate ( 2 ) 4 0.14 0.34 0.53 Dimethylcarbonate ( 10 ) 0.4 0.053 0.13 0.20 8.4 0.86 1.9 3.07 23
Take homes: - Make the CO where CO 2 is available and where CO is needed - Create added value for the methane within a value chain - Existing gas grid makes the connection between producer and consumer. Make maximal use of the infrastructure! Avoid biomass transport! Three key innovation needs: - Business models across ETS - Cost effective technology for biogas upgrading and compression at medium scale - SDR further roll out
Contact: korneel.rabaey@ugent.be www.capture-resources.be http://cmet.ugent.be
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