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This report explores the implications of clean hydrogen developments for energy transport and storage infrastructure, focusing on maximizing the value for infrastructure users and owners. Four key research questions are addressed: The value of electrolysers when electricity grid reinforcements are delayed. How grid operators can influence the business case and operational strategy of decentralized hydrogen production to reduce grid congestion. The impact of different customer combinations on future hydrogen distribution tariffs. How different customer combinations can increase the earnings of large-scale hydrogen storage capacity. The first two research questions mainly focussed on the value of electrolysis for dealing with electricity grid congestion. From our analysis related to the first question, we can conclude that, if electrolysers are operated based on electricity and hydrogen market spot prices alone, they will not be able to fully replace electricity grid reinforcements. This happens because the production profile of the electrolysers driven by market prices does not correlate completely with the peak load moments of the electricity cables. Moreover, locations that are suitable for electrolysis are not necessarily the locations where congestion management has most value. This has been evaluated for two cases: landfall of offshore wind and onshore combined wind and solar generation locations. Electrolysers can and do contribute to resolving congestion, but incentives of electrolysis investors and system operators do not fully align. Hence, additional price incentives at specific moments and/or locations are needed to unlock the value of electrolysers during potential periods of delayed electricity grid reinforcements. An additional analysis was performed to assess what financial incentives could influence the business case and operational strategy of decentral electrolysis such that electricity grid congestion can be reduced. The existing GOPACS mechanism provides intraday orders which can provide attractive additional revenues for the local electrolyser business case. However, the more effective the electrolyser is in solving the local congestion by simply being active on spot markets, the less income it receives from the GOPACS orders, because there is less residual congestion. Hence, it is not expected that this congestion management mechanism will sufficiently incentivize decentral electrolyser investments. Grid operators could take a more active role to steer the locations of electrolysers, through financial or non-financial instruments. Financial instruments could include incentives that reduce grid connection costs, allow cable pooling or valorise by-products. Not all of these are compatible with the current regulatory frameworks in The Netherlands. The second two research questions focus on the impact of different customer combinations on the hydrogen infrastructure earnings, and thereby also affecting the tariffs customers will have to pay. It was seen that the number of connections is a major factor that impacts future gas distribution grid tariffs, because the fixed depreciation costs of the existing assets and potential grid removal costs have to be paid by less customers. Since small connections represent 98% of the connections and 85% of the allowed income of the regulated grid operators, the impact whether these type of connections (mainly represented by the built environment) will stay or leave the gas distribution grid is the biggest. Moreover, future gas distribution grid tariffs are impacted by three (interrelated) political issues: who will be burdened with the grid removal costs?; will future methane and potential hydrogen distribution grid tariffs be separate or combined?; and how fast will the existing grid value be depreciated? Similar to revenues of large scale underground natural gas storage facilities, revenues of hydrogen storage facilities could differ greatly over the years by external market factors and perceived uncertainty in the economy. However, the fourth research activity resulted in three effects by which also customer combinations can impact the revenues of the hydrogen storage operator as well: The demand for storage (capacity and volume) in the energy system relative to the available capacity, which will increase the tariffs asked for working gas volume (WGV), injection and withdrawal capacity reservations. A similar timing in fixed reservations for injection and withdrawal capacity, by which more injection and withdrawal capacity can be sold and operational costs can be saved. Complementary profiles that maximize the reserved and utilized WGV capacity during the year. By reducing the need for storage and balancing portfolios with complementary variable profiles, storage operators will be able to increase their asset utilization and the impact of the storage tariffs can be reduced., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2022-HyDelta.

In order to move towards a renewable energy system in the Netherlands, an increasing capacity of renewables has to be connected to the electricity grid. This causes very serious e-grid congestion issues. Reinforcement of the e-grid can be very expensive if technologically and/or legally feasible at all, costs considerable time for various reasons and requires an electrotechnical workforce that often is not or scarcely available. So, Dutch electricity DSOs are facing growing congestion problems in providing grid connections in time for new renewable energy capacities. It is in fact likely that in the Netherlands e-grid congestion will be a reality and growing concern for at least the coming decade. This results in sometimes long connection waiting times for solar and wind farms (i.e., supply-side congestion) and similar adverse access conditions for the energy end-users (demand-side congestion), and also means that in the near future new solar and wind farms will not be able to deliver electricity to the grid at all times. To determine the most cost-effective solutions for this issue from an energy system perspective covering different energy carriers and stakeholders involved, this study looked into alternative supply-side grid flexibility solutions provided by electrolyzers, batteries and their combinations alongside curtailment methods. The net costs of these options have then been compared with those of traditional grid expansion techniques. Such comparative economic analysis has been carried out via a case study in the context of a quasi-realistic setting in which a 38MWp solar park is introduced in a Netherlands’ region facing serious supply-side e-grid congestion, Friesland. The striking overall result of the case analysis of such newly added solar capacity in a rural e-grid-supply-congestion region, i.e. where electricity supply already exceeds demand during peak moments, is that under the current (2023) cost and energy price conditions considerable societal net benefits can be achieved by connecting the solar park to the market via the multiple flexibility options mentioned rather than by just reinforcing the local electricity grid. Various sensitivities were explored to analyse the impact of parameter changes on the various flexibility components. For this purpose an impact assessment was made of changing: the distances between the solar park and a hydrogen refuelling station; the capacity of the solar park and electricity demand; hydrogen and electricity prices; the mode of transport of hydrogen via the RTL and tube trailers; the level of mobility demand, the CAPEX of electrolysers; and the way of sourcing the electricity from the grid. Of all sensitivities, especially changes in hydrogen and electricity prices turned out to have a large impact especially via their impact on returns on selling hydrogen to mobility. The impact of the option to sell hydrogen to mobility was anyhow important because its prices received per kg green hydrogen were assumed to be higher than those offered by industrial uptake. Simulation results also showed that in the economic optimum large-scale batteries played a significant role in providing flexibility for dealing with supply-side congestion. Especially combinations of batteries and PtG proved effective in raising electrolyser use. Electrolysers and electrolyser/battery combinations were the optimal flexibility solution at the lower solar PV capacities, whereas battery solutions were at the higher end of the PV capacities considered. All in all, our results suggest that from the overall energy system cost perspective it can be very promising to systematically assess costs and benefits of alternative ways to integrate new local renewable energy capacities into the energy system, especially in rural e-grid congestion regions. It should, however, be mentioned that the lowest cost energy system option can only be realised if somehow the stakeholders losing are at least compensated for their losses by the stakeholders gaining: one therefore somehow needs legislative framework that supports such compensation. This underlines the role that governmental policies and incentives on such planning issues will have to play apart from their role e.g. with respect to the development and implementation of new technologies for greening energy production, etc. (see also Hydelta2 D4.3 on this). Some assumptions and caveats about the research have been included below: Annualized costs and benefits methods was used for assessing the various scenarios in comparison to a Net Present Value (NPV) method (see section 3.3.3 for more information) this was done in order to fairly compare assets with different lifetimes with each other. This study considers the mutual costs and benefits of multiple stakeholders: renewable electricity producer, battery and/or electrolyser operator and the distribution grid operator. We acknowledge that under current market circumstances these actors will not operate their assets in a mutually optimal way. However, this methodology has been chosen to show what the societal optimum is when financial incentives of these actors would be aligned. Costs and benefits show the results for a pre-investment decision phase, taking into account both investment and planned operational considerations of a one year timeframe. Hence, the results are not yielded by the actual performance and differences over the years. Re-use of the RNB pipeline is considered for the transportation of hydrogen in most of the scenarios (RTL is not utilized). RNB gas pipeline of 8 bars is suitable for the level of output that is derived from the electrolyzer and serves the regional aspect of our study. Mobility demand of hydrogen – with a relatively high willingness-to-pay -is limited by regional demand constraints considered in our scenarios, the sensitivity of the results based on this demand has been evaluated. The industrial demand was not limited as it was perceived that any industrial offtaker would need to be connected to national hydrogen transport infrastructure in order to receive enough volume and security of supply., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2022-HyDelta.

As a short supplement, this deliverable serves as a policy recommendation document in regards to the results derived from deliverable D4.1 and D4.2. Both deliverables investigated solutions for mitigating the prevalent and ongoing electricity grid congestion in the Netherlands from a regional perspective via the implementation of PtG systems (e.g., via electrolyzers) and other flexibility providing options such as utility scale batteries and curtailment techniques. It was shown that local PtG investments and subsequent hydrogen blending can be a first step towards local integration of electricity and gas systems. These investments can help by offering a solution for local e-grid congestion problems; enhancing the profitability of RES investments; and improving local security of supply conditions. They can also act as a stepping stone to synergistically serve an increasing number of end users besides local industry (e.g. mobility and the built environment); and may act as a dominant enabler of a decisive decarbonisation trend in the entire relevant area. This can be done by: Authorities providing as clear information as possible on local supply-side congestion perspectives. That reliable information is provided if local investment in a hydrogen blend really involves a step towards full decarbonisation of natural gas use in decentral industries: one has to be sure that ultimately one will be able to implement pure green hydrogen via increasing blending percentages. Reducing the regulatory uncertainty of if and when the gas transmission service operator (TSO) and/or distribution service operators (DSOs) are legally allowed and/or capable to facilitate a ‘pure’ hydrogen transport connection to the gas grid, or, in the preceding stages, to apply blends of hydrogen in the grid. Results also clearly indicated that a mix of flexibility solutions can cost-effectively reduce electricity grid reinforcement needs and therefore societal costs, but only if cost-benefit analyses are systematically implemented and new legislation and regulatory measures are introduced supporting that the incentives to get to the optimal solution are implemented. These alternative options require alignment of stakeholders interests and a supportive legislative and regulatory framework. Hence some main recommendations can be given to policy makers: Identification of which specific legislations and regulatory measures would be required to provide right incentives for solar park and wind farm operators, regional grid operators, and electrolyser and battery operators such that maximum green energy benefits are delivered against lowest overall costs. Based on systematic regional prognoses for new decentral renewable capacities and electricity demand, regions should be identified where electricity supply will exceed demand regularly. This information can be used to identify the regions in which decentral hydrogen production is the most promising. This information should be made public so that new investors in solar (and wind) capacity and the distribution grid operator can together investigate several options to integrate the additional renewable energy in the system. Given the seriousness of the domestic e-grid congestion issues such developments are urgently needed (both for the distribution and transmission e-grid); in fact not having them in place can be seen as a serious obstacle for green hydrogen and battery investment, and a stimulus for growing undue e-grid congestion., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2022-HyDelta.

This study tries to answer two fundamental questions related to the introduction of hydrogen in the Netherlands’ energy system in the period until 2030: what is the likely order of magnitude of electrolyser capacity investment in the Netherlands and what are their main drivers; and given such investment, and given the different sizes of electrolyser installations (varying from a scale of some MWs to GW-scale), where will those investments most likely be located and what are the most likely drivers of the choices of location? Both questions are highly relevant for the TSO and DSO’s responsible for hydrogen transport. The more hydrogen will be produced domestically as opposed to imported via the main harbours, the more transport capacity will need to be developed to service the market. The better the understanding of where hydrogen production will most likely be concentrated, the better the TSO but the DSO’s in particular will be able to plan their future hydrogen related transport capacities. Magnitude of electrolyser capacity investment So far virtually all investment in electrolyser capacity has been characterized by a spirit of pilot and demonstration activity. The commercial exploitation of electrolysers still is something of the future given the current stage of scaling up and learning. This means that serious investment in electrolyser capacity will not come off the ground without public support, either by way of subsidies or by way of command and control via prescribing the introduction clean hydrogen to replace grey hydrogen. In assessing what the main drivers are for investment in electrolyser capacity, public support therefore clearly will be the main factor, at least in the period considered i.e. until 2030. In the Netherlands support policies to stimulate hydrogen value chain development and electrolyser investment in the country have come off the ground fairly intensively during the last years: the Netherlands is the first country in Europe to invest in a national hydrogen backbone linking most of the main industrial clusters with links to Germany and Belgium; the Netherlands introduced serious subsidy volumes (several billions of Euros) to support investment in electrolyser capacity and hydrogen transport capacity and also support measures have been introduced via a certificate system for hydrogen in mobility including hydrogen refinery for that purpose; the Netherlands recently doubled its 2030 targets for both offshore wind and electrolyser capacity (to 21 GW and 6-8 GW respectively); a wave of pilots related to small scale introduction of hydrogen in industry, mobility and the built environment meanwhile has been introduced to test hydrogen applications. All such support activity has boosted hydrogen developments. The question whether or not hydrogen support initiatives in the country have been relatively substantial compared to other EU countries was outside the scope of the current study. That the support measures have been effective is, however, clear: given the current information it seems very likely that the first GW cumulative electrolyser capacity in the country will already be operational by 2026. In the study an extensive simulation has been carried out to assess for (the period until) 2030 how much public support/subsidy is probably needed per MWh of green hydrogen produced domestically to close the business case. Obviously the result was sensitive to many investment specific factors, but boiled down to figures ranging from close to zero to about 100 €/MWh with most simulations ranging between some 10-35 €/MWh H2, or some 0.5-1 €/kg H2. Key factors reducing subsidy needs turned out to be: the overall installed capacity of renewable energy in the country; national demand for hydrogen; national demand for electricity; and to a lesser extent the natural gas and CO2 prices. The simulations assumed that the hydrogen market until 2030 will be typically national because the international shipping transport systems are expected to initially focus on demand of the hydrogen carriers (e.g. ammonia or methanol). Another fundamental factor that, next to public support measures, will most likely have a crucial impact on domestic electrolyser capacity built up is to what extent the country will rely on the imports of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers for satisfying domestic demand. It is still an open issue to what extent nationally produced hydrogen can compete with hydrogen imported from foreign sources. The assessment of HyDelta 1 7A.2 suggested that for at least 2030 hydrogen production based on North Sea wind capacity could compete well with almost all other sources of green hydrogen production because differences in transport costs more than compensated those of production costs. For hydrogen carriers the assessment concluded no clear difference in competitiveness between domestic and foreign sources. This may explain why in the various simulation studies on the issue, no clear answer is provided on the issue what share of hydrogen supply will be generated nationally. A major complexity in this respect is that hydrogen and hydrogen carriers are just commodities that will be traded internationally so that a significant part of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers entering the country as imports, will be transported further to the surrounding countries. All in all, the expectation is that ‘pure hydrogen’ may well be produced domestically typically based on North Sea wind capacities, whereas hydrogen derived chemicals such as ammonia and methanol will typically be imported. Locations of electrolyser investment It seems likely that different scales of electrolyser capacity clusters will be introduced in the future ranging from small electrolysers (say with capacities ranging from about 1 MW to several MWs), and medium sized electrolysers (say with capacities between some tens to some hundreds of MWs) to large electrolysers (with capacities anywhere between 250 MW and several GWs). Obviously the range of likely locations of such investment will differ depending on the scale of the investment clusters. So far significant investment of electrolyser capacity of medium sized and large scale is foreseen to emerge in or near four of the five main industrial clusters (Eemshaven-Delfzijl, het Noordzeekanaalgebied (NZKG), the Rotterdam-Moerdijk area, the Schelde-Delta region in Zeeland, and Chemelot in Limburg). The locational advantages of these main industrial clusters are clear: large scale demand, the presence of major companies with considerable investment capacities, and a cluster scope supporting the economics of scale, logistics and permitting procedures. The few existing scenarios so far, for the after 2030 period on average suggest that the major part (60-75%, depending on the scenario) of the Netherlands electrolyser capacity in the future will be located in the four coastal industrial clusters and the region of Den Helder and/or offshore. The remaining, mostly smaller electrolyser capacities will be located at the Chemelot industrial cluster and elsewhere throughout the country. Clearly, the backbone will act as another major catalyst for electrolyser investment in its neighbourhood; all coastal main industrial clusters mentioned are positioned close to the backbone. Also, all four clusters located near the coast are already connected to energy supply networks based on power, also from offshore wind capacities, which adds to their abilities to balance and to their strong locational advantage for large scale electrolyser capacities until 2030. After 2030, the future location of offshore wind capacities may be increasingly decisive which – due to windfarms increasingly being planned in the Northern part of the Netherlands North Sea continental shelf – explains why the scenarios and investment plans suggest an increasing focus of electrolyser capacities in the North of the country. An interesting issue, also for the DSOs in view of their network investment planning, is where electrolyser capacities can be expected to emerge inland. Where are the clusters of industrial and other economic activities that may consider installing electrolyser capacities to secure stable, green and affordable energy by way of hydrogen as the optimal energy mode? An assessment showed that currently 27 small electrolyser projects are in operation or development, representing a total capacity of 100-150 MW. Clearly, factors determining such locational choices are: the threat of e-grid supply-side congestion becoming a problem, the presence of a serious industrial activity (usually referred to as cluster 6 locations) potentially in combination with a built environment, the availability of the production of green power in the area in combination with local demand for ‘ultra-pure’ hydrogen for mobility that cannot be delivered via the public grid (and purification may be considered too costly). This last category of cases could typically lead to the installation of small scale electrolysers for mobility; similarly small scale electrolysers may be introduced into the future to service pockets of the built environment looking for self-sufficiency, especially to be able to store and improve the use of locally produced renewable power capacities., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2022-HyDelta.

Plastic production and its unplanned management and disposal, has been shown to pollute terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments. Petroleum-derived plastics do not decompose and tend to persist in the surrounding environment for longer time. Plastics can be ingested and accumulate into the tissues of both terrestrial and aquatic animals, which can impede their growth and development. Petrochemicals are the primary feedstocks for the manufacture of plastics. The plastic wastes can be retrieved back for conversion to value added petrochemicals including aromatic char, hydrogen, synthesis gas, and bio-crude oil using various technologies including thermochemical, catalytic conversion and chemolysis. This review focusses on technologies, opportunities, challenges and outlooks of retrieving back plastic wastes for conversion to value added petrochemicals. The review also explores both the technical and management approaches for conversion of plastic wastes to petrochemicals in regard to commercial feasibility, and economic and environmental sustainability. Further, this review work provides a detailed discussion on opportunities and challenges associated with recent thermochemical and catalytic conversion technologies adopted for retrieving plastic waste to fuels and chemicals. The review also recommends prospects for future research to improve the processes and cost-efficiency of promising technologies for conversion of plastic wastes to petrochemicals. It is envisioned that this review would overcomes the knowledge gaps on conversion technologies and further contribute in emerging sustainable approaches for exploiting plastic wastes for value-added products.

In order to move towards a renewable energy system in the Netherlands, an increasing capacity of renewables has to be connected to the electricity grid (e-grid). Reinforcement of this grid costs time also because of the immanent electrotechnical workforce scarcity in the country. Therefore, Dutch electricity DSOs already face and foresee rapidly growing (localised) challenges in providing grid connections (in time) for connecting local renewable energy capacities. In this study it was investigated whether and to what extent local or regional P2G systems may alleviate congestion in the e-grid in some critical areas by introducing green hydrogen produced via P2G – blended or otherwise – in decentral industrial clusters and/or the mobility sector in particular areas. The focus in the study on decentralized (so-called cluster 6) industry and local mobility as potential green hydrogen consumers (rather than the five main industrial clusters in the country) was chosen because, unlike the main industrial clusters, the more local industry and mobility hydrogen uptake is typically not easily connected to the foreseen national hydrogen backbone. Therefore, the regional transmission gas line (RTL) will have to act as the main potential hydrogen grid connection for these industries. To identify the country’s most suited areas for establishing such potential local hydrogen connections (and hydrogen blending), four location criteria have been combined: the severity of supply side driven e-grid congestion; the presence of local industry with a grid connection decoupled from the built environment/public distribution system (because such a connection would complicate blending); the proximity to (future) renewable energy production sites; and the assumed little industries’ decarbonization alternatives. Based on these criteria, some dozen potential ‘hydrogen blending regions’ were identified throughout the Netherlands, each with multiple possible local blending sites. Modelling of the supply side economics of P2G congestion solutions for these regions revealed that, although the P2G option may be promising on the longer term, currently its business case is difficult from the perspective of energy suppliers given the combination of current assumed market prices of green hydrogen and local industry demand levels. Under the present conditions on the whole for energy suppliers in the selected regions trying to deal with e-grid congestion, utility-scale batteries turned out to offer a higher utilization rate and to be more cost-effective to deal with the issue. The latter is due to batteries’ scalability and currently lower CAPEX-levels (than electrolysers) and to handsome electricity trading margins given current high electricity prices. Obviously the most economic congestion combatting option for the suppliers of energy will not always coincide with what is most economic from the perspective of the demand side, i.e. industries or mobility sector units in the area off-taking energy. The same may apply if cost conditions alter e.g., as P2G technology matures. Another key finding from modelling the optimal options for energy suppliers to deal with congestion via hydrogen blending in the given regions under current conditions was that deliveries to the mobility sector dominated. This was because hydrogen prices in mobility are assumed to be higher than those for industry. A backdrop of delivery to mobility, however, is that both prices and demand volumes are more uncertain than deliveries to industry. Interviews with various stakeholders revealed the following main perceived opportunities and barriers of implementing P2G investment and local blending in decentral industries. The main barriers: As long as it is uncertain if local e-grid congestion is a lasting and growing or instead temporary problem in a particular region (e.g., because operators may or may not extend grid-capacities), the profitability of an electrolyser investment by a local energy provider to deal with congestion will be uncertain as well. Given that electrolyser and related equipment CAPEX levels on the whole are quite high, such uncertainty can pose a serious barrier. If congestion is mitigated via P2G involving a relatively small hydrogen blend of, say, 10% hydrogen admixed to natural gas (corresponding with ≈3% emission reduction), the decarbonisation impact remains quite small; at the same time the energy content of the blend gets smaller than of natural gas only (when compared at constant volumetric flowrate). Introducing hydrogen blends therefore is only considered to be worthwhile by decentral industries if it offers a serious and ultimately complete step forward towards decarbonising the use of gas. P2G investment to deal with congestion remains tricky as long as uncertainty remains about the degree to which energy system operators are legally allowed to facilitate ‘pure’ hydrogen connections to the gas grid to serve specific local demand and to apply blends of hydrogen in their local grid. The main opportunities: Local P2G investment and subsequent hydrogen blending can be a first step towards local integration of the electricity and gas systems. This way it can help: offering a solution for local e-grid congestion problems; enhance the profitability of RES investment; and improve local security of supply conditions. Local P2G investment designed to deal with e-grid congestion can also: act as a stepping stone to synergistically serve an increasing number of end users besides local industry (e.g. mobility and the built environment); and may act as a dominant enabler of a decisive decarbonisation trend in the entire relevant area. Market conditions for P2G are generally expected to improve as the technologies are scaling up such that ultimately hydrogen may develop into a dominant energy carrier; given this perspective, first- mover issues may have to be taken for granted for the technology to ultimately pay off. Not following this path carries the risk of missing out in the future. NB: The modelling activities that took place in this study were based on the 2022 state of the art with respect to the cost of batteries and electrolyzers and with respect to the availability of SDE++ subsidies and conditions., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2022-HyDelta.

Exploration of clean and renewable energy materials is necessary due to the coming energy crisis and environmental problems. Solar energy is one of the favorable energy sources because of the continuous energy reservoir and its affluence. Silicon-based solar devices are expensive due to their complicated production process, which limits this technology for urban and other commercial applications. Among the third generation of solar cells, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) have attracted widespread attention as potential cost-effective alternatives to silicon-based solar cells. In this paper, the commercializing potential of the DSSCs is investigated. A module is introduced where the materials, equipment, and distribution of direct manufacturing costs are calculated. The manufacturing costs and the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of these DSSCs for a system lifetime of 25 years were determined to be USD 22.40 per m2 and USD 0.0438 per kWh and the module price of this technology is USD 0.18 per W and the total installed system cost is USD 0.88 per W in Kansas which suggest that this PV technology could challenge other leading PV technologies.

Procjenjuje se da su zgrade u EU odgovorne za 40% potrošene sveukupne energije i 36% emisija CO2 što ih čini velikim potrošačima energije i zagađivačima okoliša, te su iz tog razloga postavljeni novi kriteriji za njihovu izgradnju. Radi se o takozvanim zgradama nulte energetske potrošnje (engl. Nearly zero energy building – NZEB) koje se temelje na potrošnji izuzetno niskih količina energije i pridobivanju energije primarno iz obnovljivih izvora. Svrha ovog rada je provesti tehnoekonomsku analizu energetske opskrbe definiranog stambenog kompleksa. Za izračun energetskih tokova stambenog kompleksa i energetske bilance plitkog geotermalnog ležišta, kao i za određivanje referentnog scenarija korišten je model RES2GEO. Radi se o internom modelu napisanom u programu Python v3.8. Izmjenom parametara referentnog scenarija generirano je mnoštvo razmatranih scenarija, te je za svaki scenarij provedena tehnoekonomska analiza korištenjem programa Python v3.8. i MS Excel. U ovom radu je prikazana analiza scenarija koji najviše utječu na promjenu energetske opskrbe stambenog kompleksa u tehničkom i ekonomskom pogledu, te grafički prikaz analize osjetljivosti u kojoj se može vidjeti utjecaj različitih parametara na isplativost razmatranih scenarija., It is estimated that buildings in EU are responsible for 40% of total energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions, making them major energy consumers and polluters. Therefore new criteria has been set for their construction. These are so-called Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB), which are based on the consumption of extremely low amounts of energy and obtaining energy primarily from renewable energy sources. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a techno-economic analysis of the energy supply of a defined housing complex. RES2GEO model was used to calculate the energy flows of the housing complex and the energy balance of the shallow geothermal reservoir, as well as to determine the reference scenario. This is an in-house model written in Python v3.8. By changing the parameters of the reference scenario, a multitude of considered scenarios were generated, and for each scenario, a technoeconomic analysis was performed using Python v3.8 and MS Excel. This thesis presents an analysis of scenarios that have the greates effect on the change of energy supply of the housing complex in technical and economic terms and provides a graphical representation of sensitivity analysis where the impact of different parameters on cost-effectiveness of the considered scenarios is clearly visible.

Green pathways for nonisocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) production have attracted increasing levels of interest. The reaction between 5-membered cyclic carbonate and polyamines is one of the most promising pathways to produce NIPU polymers. Though promising, major technical hurdles such as slow polymerization rate and poor performance hinder the commercialization of NIPU. In this paper, we screened several commercially available triglyceride oil feedstocks for NIPU products, focusing on polymerization kinetics and product performance for industrial application. The impact of carbonated group density on polymerization rate and mechanical strength was determined. We have demonstrated a remarkably higher reactivity of carbonated oil derived from feedstocks with polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). The NIPU derived from such feedstocks also showed improved performance for industrial application. Unlike traditional polyurethane foam production that uses isocyanate and water to generate CO2 as a blowing reagent, there is no gas formation in NIPU polymerization. We have demonstrated a practical and cost-effective approach to produce NIPU foam material using bicarbonate as a blowing reagent. Furthermore, we conducted the first-ever technoeconomic analysis (TEA), revealing that profitable commercial NIPU production can be achieved when operating at sufficient production capacities.

Rapidly declining costs of renewable energy technologies have made solar and wind the cheapest sources of energy in many parts of the world. This has been seen primarily as enabling the rapid decarbonization of the electricity sector, but low-cost, low-carbon energy can have a great secondary impact by reducing the costs of energy-intensive decarbonization efforts in other areas. In this study, we consider, by way of an exemplary carbon capture and utilization cycle based on mature technologies, the energy requirements of the “industrial carbon cycle”, an emerging paradigm in which industrial CO2 emissions are captured and reprocessed into chemicals and fuels, and we assess the impact of declining renewable energy costs on overall economics of these processes. In our exemplary process, CO2 is captured from a cement production facility via an amine scrubbing process and combined with hydrogen produced by a solar-powered polymer electrolyte membrane, using electrolysis to produce methanol. We show that solar heat and electricity generation costs currently realized in the Middle East lead to a large reduction in the cost of this process relative to baseline assumptions found in published literature, and extrapolation of current energy price trends into the near future would bring costs down to the level of current fossil-fuel-based processes.

U ovom diplomskom radu prikazan je tehnološki postupak izrade odabranog proizvoda. U cilju izrade optimalnog postupka prikupljeni su podaci o proizvodu, proizvodnoj količini i rokovima obrade. Prije same izrade proizvoda vrši se analiza mehaničkog svojstva obratka, tolerancije u obradi, način stezanja obratka pri obradi. Izrada proizvoda zahtijevala je obrade na tokarilici i glodalici. Prema tehničkom crtežu odabrane su potrebne operacije obrade (gruba obrada, fina obrada, bušenje...). Za odabrane operacije obrade odabrani su odgovarajući rezni i stezni alati. Nakon strojne obrade provodi se postupak toplinske obrade a zatim završna strojna obrada. Nakon dorade vrši se kontrola proizvoda te se nakon kontrole isporučuje kupcu. Nakon prikaza strojne i toplinske obrade te kontrole kvalitete u radu se daje tehnoekonomska analiza pri čemu se analiziraju troškovi obrade i prodajna cijena. Kao rezultat analize troškova za izradu ovog proizvoda, došlo se do zaključka koliki će profit biti., In this master thesis, data on product, production quantity and processing deadlines were collected. Prior to the production of the product, the analysis of the mechanical properties of the workpiece, tolerance in processing, the method of clamping the workpiece during processing is performed. The product was processed on a lathe and a milling machine. According to the technical drawing, the necessary machining operations (rough machining, fine machining, drilling,...). Appropriate cutting and clamping tools have been selected for the selected operations. After stepping, it goes to heat treatment and then returns to machining. After finishing, the product is inspected and after the inspection, it is delivered to the customer. After machining and heat treatment and quality control, a techno – economic analysis is carried out where the processing cost and the selling price will be looked at. At the very end, it will be concluded what the profit will be that will be made of the production of this product.

Plants and microbes share common metabolic pathways for producing a range of bioproducts that are potentially foundational to the future bioeconomy. However, in planta accumulation and microbial production of bioproducts have never been systematically compared on an economic basis to identify optimal routes of production. A detailed technoeconomic analysis of four exemplar compounds (4-hydroxybenzoic acid [4-HBA], catechol, muconic acid, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid [PDC]) is conducted with the highest reported yields and accumulation rates to identify economically advantaged platforms and breakeven targets for plants and microbes. The results indicate that in planta mass accumulation ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 dry weight % (dwt%) can achieve costs comparable to microbial routes operating at 40 to 55% of maximum theoretical yields. These yields and accumulation rates are sufficient to be cost competitive if the products are sold at market prices consistent with specialty chemicals ($20 to $50/kg). Prices consistent with commodity chemicals will require an order-of-magnitude-greater accumulation rate for plants and/or yields nearing theoretical maxima for microbial production platforms. This comparative analysis revealed that the demonstrated accumulation rates of 4-HBA (3.2 dwt%) and PDC (3.0 dwt%) in engineered plants vastly outperform microbial routes, even if microbial platforms were to reach theoretical maximum yields. Their recovery and sale as part of a lignocellulosic biorefinery could enable biofuel prices to be competitive with petroleum. Muconic acid and catechol, in contrast, are currently more attractive when produced microbially using a sugar feedstock. Ultimately, both platforms can play an important role in replacing fossil-derived products.

Target properties of CO2 capture adsorbents that would ensure economic viability of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) are defined. The key role of sorbent lifetime in the process cost is demonstrated, and an optimal heat of adsorption for BECCS is postulated through a balance of adsorbent-adsorbate affinity and regeneration energy demand. Using an exponential decay model of sorbent capacity increases the process cost and results in an optimum sorbent lifetime. To ensure a levelized cost of carbon below $100/tonne-CO2, adsorbents should be designed to have working capacities above 0.75 mol/kg, lifetimes over 2 years, heats of adsorption of approximately -40 kJ/mol, and exponential degradation decay constants below 5 × 10-6 cycle-1 (equivalent to a half-life of 1.3 years). Our model predicts a BECCS process cost of $65/t-CO2 can be achieved with a degradation-resistant adsorbent, $40/kg sorbent cost, 2.0 mol/kg working capacity, -40 kJ/mol heat of adsorption, and at least a 2 year lifetime.

The depletion of fossil fuel sources has encouraged the authorities to use renewable resources such as wind energy to generate electricity. A backup/storage system can improve the performance of wind turbines, due to fluctuations in power demand. The novelty of this study is to utilize a hybrid system for a wind farm, using the excess electricity generated by the wind turbines to produce hydrogen in an alkaline electrolyzer (AEL). The hydrogen storage tank stores the produced hydrogen and provides hydrogen to the proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to generate electricity once the power demand is higher than the electricity generated by the wind turbines. The goal of this study is to use the wind profile of a region in Iran, namely the Cohen region, to analyze the performance of the suggested integrated system on a micro scale. The output results of this study can be used as a case study for construction in the future, based on the exact specification of NTK300 wind turbines. The results indicate that, with the minimum power supply of 30 kW from the wind turbines on a lab scale, the generated power by the PEMFC will be 1008 W, while the maximum generated hydrogen will be 304 mL/h.

This report contains a summary of the most important findings during the execution of HyDelta 1's WP7A: hydrogen value chain analysis in the Netherlands., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2020-HyDelta.

The efficiency by which monomers may be recovered during the chemical recycling of plastic waste has thus far dominated the discussion over which future polymer chemistries might be more sustainable than those in use today. However, at scale, other factors emerge as equally important, such as the costs of primary versus secondary resin production as well as the energy and carbon intensity of circular manufacturing processes. We apply systems analysis to identify problematic chemical processes used for the primary production of plastics designed for infinite recyclability: polydiketoenamine (PDK) resins from novel triketone and amine monomers. Leveraging this knowledge, we advance a less intensive process for triketone production, which lowers the cost of primary PDK production by 57% and results in 66% less life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using the automotive sector as a case study, we discuss the impact of replacing nonrecyclable polyurethane with circular PDK over the next 60 years. We find that the cumulative GHG emissions associated with introducing PDK are half those of staying the course with polyurethane. However, the extent to which circularity is realized through targeted collection and sorting plays the dominant role in determining how much of those savings is practically achievable.

The envisioned role of hydrogen in the energy transition - or the concept of a hydrogen economy - has varied through the years. In the past hydrogen was mainly considered a clean fuel for cars and/or electricity production; but the current renewed interest stems from the versatility of hydrogen in aiding the transition to CO2 neutrality, where the capability to tackle emissions from distributed applications and complex industrial processes is of paramount importance. However, the hydrogen economy will not materialise without strong political support and robust infrastructure design. Hydrogen deployment needs to address multiple barriers at once, including technology development for hydrogen production and conversion, infrastructure co-creation, policy, market design and business model development. In light of these challenges, we have brought together a group of hydrogen researchers who study the multiple interconnected disciplines to offer a perspective on what is needed to deploy the hydrogen economy as part of the drive towards net-zero-CO2 societies. We do this by analysing (i) hydrogen end-use technologies and applications, (ii) hydrogen production methods, (iii) hydrogen transport and storage networks, (iv) legal and regulatory aspects, and (v) business models. For each of these, we provide key take home messages ranging from the current status to the outlook and needs for further research. Overall, we provide the reader with a thorough understanding of the elements in the hydrogen economy, state of play and gaps to be filled., Energy & Environmental Science, 15 (3), ISSN:1754-5692, ISSN:1754-5706

This thesis has investigated the techno-economic feasibility of upgrading the sludge from a chemical pulp mill to hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). The intended use of the hydrochar was to replace fossil coal within metallurgical applications in the iron and steel industry. Process models were developed in order to obtain mass and energy balances of the HTC process for different technical configurations. The balances were used to evaluate the economic performance, in terms of hydrochar production cost as well as different profitability parameters. Two main scenarios were investigated: Scenario-1: HTC process integrated with the pulp millScenario-2: Stand alone HTC process.To see the effect of having one or two HTC reactors, two cases were developed for each scenario, where the first case used only mixed sludge from the pulp mill as feedstock for the HTC process (case 1, one reactor), while the second case used both mixed sludge and bark as feedstock (case 2, two reactors). In scenario 1, the effects on the pulp mill’s mass and energy balances of integrating the HTC process were investigated. The results showed only very small impacts on the pulp mill, due to that the HTC process is significantly smaller than the mill. The total amount of steam to the steam turbine increased by 0.8 % and 0.9 %, for case 1 and 2, respectively. In combination with the removed sludge, which is otherwise combusted in the mill’s socalled power boiler, this entailed a total increase of the wood fuel consumption in the boiler by 3.2 % and 3.6 %, respectively. By implementing a second HTC reactor, the production cost of hydrochar could in the integrated scenario (scenario 1) be decreased from 4 600 SEK/ton (case 1) to 3 700 SEK/ton (case 2). The corresponding production costs in the stand alone scenario (scenario 2) amounted to 5 400 SEK/ton (case 1) and 4 200 SEK/ton (case 2), respectively. Both integration with the pulp mill and increasing the HTC production scale were thus found to be strategies that can lead to decreased hydrochar production cost. However, even the lowest production cost noted in this report is significantly higher than the corresponding price of coal. This indicates that other measures are required in order for hydrochar to become cost competitive to fossil coal in the metallurgical industry. Examples are the possibility to use even lower-cost feedstocks, as well as policy tools targeting, e.g., the CO2 emissions from using fossil materials and energy carriers in the iron and steel industry. Based on the results from the investment calculation, it is concluded that the HTC process integrated with a pulp mill is preferable compared to a stand alone HTC process. The reason why integrated HTC is preferred is that it gives higher NPV and correspondingly lower payback time, as well as lower hydrochar production costs. Denna examensarbete har undersökt den tekno-ekonomiska genomförbarheten av att uppgradera slammet från ett kemisk massabruk till hydrokol via hydrotermisk karbonisering (HTC). Den avsedda användningen av hydrokol var att ersätta fossilt kol inom metallurgiska tillämp- ningar i järn och stålindustri. Processmodeller utvecklades för att erhålla mass- och energibalanser för HTC-processen. Balanserna användes för att utvärdera de ekonomiska prestanda, i form av produktionskostnad för hydrokol samt olika lönsamhetsparametrar. Följande två huvudscenarier undersöktes: Scenario-1: HTC-processen integrerad med massabruket Scenario-2: Fristående HTC-process. För att se effekten av att ha en eller två HTC-reaktorer utvecklades två fall för varje scenario, där det första fallet endast använde blandat slam från massabruket som råvara för HTC-processen (fall 1, en reaktor), medan det andra fallet använde både blandat slam och bark som råmaterial (fall 2, två reaktorer). I scenario 1 undersöktes effekterna på massabrukets mass- och energibalanser av att integrera HTC-processen. Resultaten visade endast mycket små effekter på massabruket, på grund av att HTC-processen är betydligt mindre än bruket. Den totala mängden ånga till ångturbinen ökade med 0.8 % och 0.9 % för fall 1 respektive 2. I kombination med bortfall av slammet, som annars förbränns i brukets barkpanna, innebar detta en total ökning av förbrukningen av trädbränsle i pannan med 3.2 % respektive 3.6 %. Genom att implementera en andra HTC-reaktor skulle produktionskostnaden för hydrokol i det integrerade scenariot (scenario 1) kunna sänkas från 4 600 SEK/ton (fall 1) till 3 700 SEK/ton (fall 2). Motsvarande produktionskostnader i det fristående scenariot (scenario 2) uppgick till 5 400 SEK/ton (fall 1) respektive 4 200 SEK/ton (fall 2). Både integration med massabruk och ökning av produktionskapaciteten av HTC visade sig därför vara strategier som kan leda till minskade produktionskostnader för hydrokol . Men även den lägsta produktionskostnaden som noteras i denna rapport är betydligt högre än motsvarande pris på kol. Detta tyder på att det krävs andra åtgärder för att hydrokol ska bli konkurrenskraftigt ur kostnadssynpunkt gentemot fossilt kol i den metallurgiska industrin. Exempel är möjligheten att använda ännu billigare råvaror, såväl som policyverktyg som riktar in sig på t.ex. CO2-utsläppen från användning av fossila material och energibärare inom järn- och stålindustrin. Baserat på resultaten från investeringskalkylen dras slutsatsen att HTC-processen integrerad med ett massabruk är att föredra jämfört med en fristående HTC-process. Anledningen till att integrerad HTC föredras är att det ger högre netto nuvärde (NPV) och motsvarande lägre återbetalningstid, samt lägre produktionskostnader för hydrokol.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) is an attractive option for storing renewable electricity and for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals and fuels. In this roadmap, we review recent progress in fundamental understanding, catalyst development, and in engineering and scale-up. We discuss the outstanding challenges towards commercialization of electrochemical CO2R technology: energy efficiencies, selectivities, low current densities, and stability. We highlight the opportunities in establishing rigorous standards for benchmarking performance, advances in in operando characterization, the discovery of new materials towards high value products, the investigation of phenomena across multiple-length scales and the application of data science towards doing so. We hope that this collective perspective sparks new research activities that ultimately bring us a step closer towards establishing a low- or zero-emission carbon cycle.

The resource endowment structure of being coal-rich and oil-poor makes China’s production of coal-based ammonia and urea, with a low production cost and a good market, a competitive advantage. However, the process suffers from high CO2 emissions and low energy efficiency and carbon utilization efficiency due to the mismatch of hydrogen-to-carbon ratio between raw coal and chemicals. Based on the coal-to-urea (CTU) process and coal-based chemical looping technology for urea production processes (CTUCLAS&H), a novel urea synthesis process from a coal and coke-oven gas-based co-feed chemical looping system (COG-CTUCLAS&H) is proposed in this paper. By integrating chemical looping air separation and chemical looping hydrogen production technologies and the synergies between coal gasification, low-energy consumption CO2 capture and CO2 utilization are realized; the excess carbon emissions of the CTU process are avoided through coupling the pressure swing adsorption of COG, and the low carbon emissions of the proposed system are obtained. In this work, the novel process is studied from three aspects: key unit modeling, parameter optimization, and technical-economic evaluation. The results show that COG-CTUCLAS&H achieves the highest system energy efficiency (77.10%), which is much higher than that of the CTU and CTUCLAS&H processes by 40.03% and 32.80%, respectively, when the optimized ratio of COG to coal gasified gas is 1.2. The carbon utilization efficiency increases from 35.67% to 78.94%. The product cost of COG-CTUCLAS&H is increased compared to CTU and CTUCLAS&H, mainly because of the introduction of COG, but the technical performance advantages of COG-CTUCLAS&H make its economic benefits obvious, and the internal rate of return of COG-CTUCLAS&H is 26%, which is larger than the 14% and 16% of CTU and CTUCLAS&H, respectively. This analysis will enable a newly promising direction of coal and COG-based co-feed integrated chemical looping technology for urea production.

Calcium looping integrated with chemical looping combustion (CaL-CLC) process is an efficient and cost-effective CO2 capture technology. In this technique, the heat generated by chemical looping combustion of CuO is used insitu to calcine CaCO3, thus avoiding the implementation of the energy-intensive air separation unit (ASU) in the conventional calcium looping (CaL) process for postcombustion CO2 capture. Many studies, including simulation works and material development, have been carried out on the CaL-CLC process. It is thus imperative to present the recent progress in the CaL-CLC process whilst providing a research prospects framework and direction for future research. First, fundamental understandings of the CaL-CLC process are discussed, including its concept and potential applications. Then, simulation work is reviewed, emphasizing process design and analysis, as well as modeling of the reactor and main reactions involved in the CaL-CLC process. Due to the fast reactivity decay of bifunctional CaO/CuO composites, various strategies have been developed to overcome this issue, which are summarized in detail. Last, future research directions for the CaL-CLC process are proposed.

Biomethane is a viable alternative to natural gas and diesel and its use has significant applications in decarbonising the hard to abate sectors of industry, heavy transport, and agriculture. Yet, commercial technologies for upgrading biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) to biomethane (such as amine and water scrubbing) bring high costs and significant energy demand. In this research, photosynthetic biogas upgrading was studied as an alternative to conventional biogas upgrading. The two-step bubble column photobioreactor setup was established as the suitable technological configuration. Five criteria were developed to select favourable microalgae species for photosynthetic biogas upgrading; Spirulina platensis was evaluated as optimal amongst common microalgae species. Following a systems approach, the bubble column (the least optimised component of photosynthetic biogas upgrading) was interrogated in detail through design of experiments to advance the understanding of the overall technology. Findings concluded that the liquid inlet pH, the liquid to gas flow (L/G) ratio and their interactions are major factors for bubble column operations. A lower algal concentration would ensure both a higher CO2 removal efficiency and a lower O2 concentration in biomethane. Regression equations, developed from experiments, were found to adequately predict CO2 removal efficiency, overall CO2 mass transfer coefficient, O2 concentration in biomethane and pH of the outlet algal medium for bubble column operations at liquid inlet pHs between 9.4 and 10.2, alkalinities between 1.3 g-inorganic carbon (IC)/L and 2.1 gIC/L, superficial gas velocities (uG) between 0.3 cm/s and 0.6 cm/s and L/G ratios between 0.3 and 0.8. A minimum pH of 10, alkalinity of 1.7 gIC/L with L/G ratios between 0.6 and 0.7 and uG between 0.5 and 0.6 cm/s were found sufficient to achieve grid quality biomethane (CO2 and O2 less than 2.5%vol and 0.8%vol respectively) at a CO2 mass transfer coefficient above 150 hr-1. These optimal conditions were also favourable for the growth of Spirulina platensis in a connected photobioreactor. Following technological optimisation, several strategies were developed to integrate photosynthetic biogas upgrading into a circular economy system using a Cascading Algal Biomethane Biorefinery System (CABBS). A microalgae composition-based decision tree was proposed to facilitate the maximisation of the profitability of these integrated biorefineries. A detailed model of a fuel (biomethane), food (Spirulina powder), biofertiliser (digestate) polygeneration process was developed. Through a multi-criteria performance assessment, the economic and the environmental benefits of the process were shown. Contrary to the energy allocation approach of the Recast EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED-II) methodology, the energy, emissions, land, and water footprints of each co-product from the polygeneration system were found to be best represented by economic allocation while allowing cost-competitiveness with market available alternatives for food and fertiliser. Using the carbon intensity of electricity grids and the individual market price of each co-product, an economic allocation was found to facilitate the production of sustainable biomethane (as defined by carbon intensity of less than 14.4 gCO2-eq/MJ for biomethane for use in heat as per RED-II). Spirulina powder and biofertiliser were also assessed to have lower emissions than meat protein and synthetic nitrogenous fertilisers respectively. The conditions for the profitability of the polygeneration plant was shown at industrial, medium and small scales while selling biomethane at the price of natural gas (3 c€/kWh). A negative marginal abatement cost established the industrial-scale process as a profitable technology comparing very favourably to conventional biomethane production processes. Future lower carbon intensity of electricity grids and trading of biomethane in the EU emission trading scheme should facilitate financial viability of smaller-scale processes by 2030.

In recent years, the idea of green aviation and environmental protection has received increasing attention from the aviation industry. Hydrogen energy has an important role in the transition to low-carbon energy systems. To address that, this paper conducts the techno-economic analysis for the hydrogen energy system, photovoltaic energy (PV, battery storage system (BSS, electric auxiliary power unit (APU of aircraft, and electric vehicles (EVs into the electrified airport energy system. Specifically, the model quantifies aircraft electrical load based on passenger travel behavior, establishes a corresponding APU load characteristic model, and establishes an EV charging load profile based on the flight schedule and sequencing algorithm. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP optimization method based on life cycle theory was proposed, to minimize the total costs of hydrogen integrated energy systems for airports (HIES . However, the resilience advantages of hydrogen energy concerning power failure are little explored in existing academic research. Thus, a resilience assessment method and improvement measure were proposed for HIES. Case studies have been conducted under different optimal hydrogen energy integration configurations and disaster times with resilience assessment by considering periods when the power supply capacity of the grid is insufficient. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Since the Paris climate agreement, the attention for ways to decarbonize the existing energy system has grown immensely. Sustainable alternatives for fossil oil and gas which are still able to provide the same level of energy security, or better, are of particular interest. The implementation of these carriers will impact the existing energy system as a whole, mainly because of two reasons: new energy carriers need to fit within an existing energy system (e.g., H2, NH3); and some existing carriers might increase significantly in capacity (electricity). New means of production, transport, storage and demand, i.e., value chains, will be required to realize these. In this report existing literature on the potential role of hydrogen in the future energy system is described. Following, the ways of modelling this future role in the energy system are distinguished, and how a modelling approach can influence the results. After the stage is set, the reasoning behind national decision making on hydrogen value chain development is described through their respective national hydrogen strategy. Finally, the design of hydrogen value chains within the environment of interest can be designed by identifying the chain elements, and the value chain models of interest. The condition of the existing energy system is an important fact to consider, to find the best way of decarbonizing it. The type of hydrogen economy, being it green or blue, import or export focused, primary gas demand or primary electrified demand, depends a lot on the strategy of the country. These national strategies are dependent on the costs of hydrogen production, growth of demand relative to production, and policy decision-making. To find which potential value chains can be the most cost-effective within an energy system one can make use of value chain modelling. Two general types of modelling, optimization or calculation of value chains, return different perspectives on the results. Optimization returns one optimized solution within the given boundaries, and calculation gives a better opportunity to analyse scenarios and parameter sensitivities. In the (academic) literature, a lot of focus is on the planning (optimization) of HRS and costs for mobility sector. Typically, interdisciplinary consortia including governments, knowledge institutions and industrial stakeholders focus on the large-scale industrial end-use of hydrogen. In the process of modelling value chains in general, the volumes and costs of hydrogen through the stages of the value chain are identified and provide insight in the economic and technical implications within a value chain. These insights can be of use for spatial planning, capacity planning and feasibility studies for the hydrogen value chain elements themselves., Dit project is medegefinancierd door TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie uit de PPS-toeslag onder referentienummer TKI2020-HyDelta.

The foreseen important increase of the penetration of distributed renewable energies technologies into the electricity distribution grid is expected to lead to some major challenges. As a main stakeholder, authorities often lack the appropriate tools to frame and encourage the transition, and monitor the impact of energy transition policies. This paper aims at combining a relatively detailed modelling of the PV generation potential on the building’s envelope while retaining the energy systems optimization approach. The problem was addressed as a multi-8objective, mixed integer-linear programming problem. Comparing to existing literature in the field, the proposed approach combines an advanced modelling of the energy generation potential from PV panels with a detailed representation of the district energy systems, thus allowing an accurate representation of the interaction between the energy generation from PV and the rest of the system. The proposed approach was applied to a typical, central European, residential district in Switzerland.The results of the application of the proposed method showed that the district can achieve carbon neutrality based on PV energy alone, but that this requires covering all the available district’s rooftops, and part of the district’s facades. Whereas facades are generally disregarded due to their lower generation potential, the results also allowed concluding that facade-PV can be economically convenient for a wide range of electricity prices, including those currently used by the Swiss grid operators. Achieving self-sufficiency at district scale is challenging: it can be achieved by covering approximately 42% to 100% of the available surface when the round trip efficiency decreases from 100% to 50%. The results underlined the importance of storage for achieving self-sufficiency: even with 100% round trip efficiency for the storage, very large capacities are required. However, energy demand reduction through renovation would allow to reach self-sufficiency (SS) with half of the PV and storage capacity required.

Lignin-rich digested stillage from second-generation bioethanol production is a unique biomass-derived feedstock, not only because it contains high amounts of lignin but also due to its residual amounts of cellulose and hemicellulose. In this study, catalytic hydrotreatment experiments were conducted on pyrolysis liquids obtained from the lignin-rich feedstock using sulphided NiMo/Al2O3 and CoMo/Al2O3 catalysts. The aim was to obtain a high conversion of the initial pyrolysis feed into a hydrotreated oil with a high phenolics and aromatics fractions. Experiments were carried out in a stirred batch reactor at 350 degrees C and 10 MPa of H-2 (initial pressure). Product oils were obtained in about 60-65% w/w, the remainder being an aqueous phase (12-14% w/w), solids (7-8% w/w) and gas phase components (all on initial pyrolysis oil feed basis). The product oils were characterised in detail using various techniques (elemental composition, GCxGC-FID, GPC, and 2D HSQC NMR). The oxygen content was reduced from 23% w/w in the pyrolysis oils to 7.5-11.5% in the hydrotreated oils, indicative of the occurrence of hydrodeoxygenation reactions. This was also evident from the chemical composition, showing an increase in the amounts of low molecular weight aromatics, alkylphenolics, alkanes and cycloalkanes in hydrotreated oils. Performance of the two catalysts was compared, and a higher degree of deoxygenation was observed for the NiMo catalyst. The implications of the findings for the valorisation of second-generation bioethanol residues are also discussed.

A technoeconomic assessment (TEA) has been conducted of the feasibility of large-scale application of microalgal culture technology (MCT) to the combined mitigation of CO2 emissions from flue gases and nutrient discharges from wastewater in the Arabian Gulf. The assessment has incorporated the selection of the algal species and MCT technologies, the extent of nutrient removal, and the biomass/biofuel production rate. The cost benefit of the abatement of pollutants (in the form of CO2 and nutrient discharges) was included by assigning appropriate credits to these contributions. The overall economic viability was quantified as the break-even selling price (BESP) of the generated biocrude, taken to be the price at which the product must sell to cover the operating expenditure (OPEX). Based on available information and optimal operational conditions, the BESP was calculated as being $0.544 per kg biomass, equating to $0.9 L−1 for the extracted biocrude, the credited items contributing ˜14% of this figure. The BESP was found to be most sensitive to the algal growth rate μ, the BESP changing by ±24% in response to a ±20% change in μ. Whilst the terms of reference of the study are limited to OPEX contributors, the potential for sustainability associated with the innately reliably high levels of natural light in the Gulf region appear to provide auspicious circumstances for large-scale implementation of MCT. For emerging economies with a comparable climate but without a mineral oil-based economy a greater financial benefit from the proposed scheme would arise. This work was made possible by the support of a National Priorities Research Programme (NPRP) grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) , grant reference number NPRP 6-1436-2-581 . The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Scopus

The future bioeconomy promises drop-in or performance-advantaged biofuels and bioproducts derived from lignocellulosic biomass, substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions in sectors with few or no alternatives, and increased domestic energy production in countries with sufficient biomass resources. Despite the slower than anticipated pace of commercializing next-generation biofuels, the research community continues to make dramatic improvements at every stage of production, from feedstock cultivation through conversion to final products. However, the interdisciplinary nature of bioenergy research, and the need for cross-coordination among biologists, chemists, agronomists, and engineers, make coordinating and optimizing these strategies challenging. This Perspective surveys recent advancements in bioenergy crop engineering, lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction and fractionation, catabolism of biomass-derived sugars and aromatics, and biological conversion to fuels and products. We organize major research approaches into broad categories and comment on which strategies offer synergies or trade-offs in the context of four approaches to improving the economics and carbon-efficiency of advanced biofuels and bioproducts: (1) maximize sugar conversion to a single product, (2) utilize diverse carbon sources for producing a single product, (3) convert lignin to high-value products, and (4) fractionate the hydrolysate to derive maximum value from each component.

As more countries commit to a net-zero GHG emission target, we need a whole energy and industrial system approach to decarbonization rather than focus on individual emitters. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis of monoethanolamine-based post-combustion capture to explore opportunities over a diverse range of power and industrial applications. The following ranges were investigated: feed gas flow rate between 1-1000 kg ·s-1, gas CO2 concentrations of 2-42%mol, capture rates of 70-99%, and interest rates of 2-20%. The economies of scale are evident when the flue gas flow rate is

In view of serious environmental problems occurring around the world and in particular climate change caused significantly by dangerous CO2 emissions into the biosphere in the developmental process, it has become imperative to identify alternative and cleaner sources of energy. It is now indisputable that there cannot be sustained development or meaningful growth without a commitment to preserve the environment. Compressed hydrogen is being considered as a potential fuel for heavy-duty applications because it will possibly substantially reduce toxic greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of hydrogen will be a main element in the acceptance of compressed hydrogen internal combustion vehicles in the marketplace since of its effect on the levelized cost of driving. The cost of hydrogen at the pump is determined by its production cost, which is mainly a function of the feedstock and process utilised, the distribution cost and the refuelling station cost. This paper investigates the feasibility of implementing a nationwide network of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in order to accommodate a conversion of Canada’s long-haul, heavy-duty truck fleet from diesel fuel to hydrogen. This initiative is taken in order to reduce vehicle emissions and support Canada’s commitments to the climate plans supporting active transportation infrastructure, together with new transit infrastructure, and zero emission vehicles. Two methods, Constant Traffic and Variable Traffic, along with data about hydrogen infrastructure and vehicles, were developed to estimate fuelling requirements for Canada’s long-haul, heavy-duty truck fleet. Furthermore, a thorough economic study was conducted on various test cases to evaluate how diverse variables affects the final selling price of hydrogen. This provided insight with the understanding of what factors go into pricing hydrogen and if it can compete against diesel in the trucking market. Results revealed that the cost to purchase hydrogen is the greatest factor in the pump price of hydrogen. Due to the variability in hydrogen production, however, there is no precise cost, which makes predictions difficult. Moreover, it was found that the pump price of hydrogen is, on average, 239% more expensive than diesel fuel. Future work should concentrate on the costs and logistics of high-capacity hydrogen refuelling stations, which is required to deliver fuel to a fleet of long-haul, heavy-duty trucks. A breakdown of hydrogen production costs, with regard to the Canadian landscape and the requirements of a long-haul, heavy-duty truck fleet, may possibly give further accurate predictions of those made in this study.

Forage sorghum is a promising feedstock for the production of biofuels and bioproducts because it is drought tolerant, high-yielding, and familiar to farmers across the world. However, sorghum spans a diverse range of phenotypes, and it is unclear which are most desirable as bioenergy feedstocks. This paper explores four forage sorghum types, including brown-midrib (bmr), non-bmr, photoperiod sensitive (PS), and photoperiod insensitive (non-PS), from the perspective of their impact on minimum bioethanol selling price (MESP) at an ionic liquid pretreatment-based biorefinery. Among these types, there are tradeoffs between biomass yield, lignin content, and starch and sugar contents. High biomass-yielding PS varieties have previously been considered preferable for bioenergy production, but, if most starch and sugars from the panicle are retained during storage, use of non-PS sorghum may result in lower-cost biofuels (MESP of $1.26/L-gasoline equivalent). If advances in lignin utilization increase its value such that it can be dried and sold for $0.50/kg, the MESP for each scenario is lowered and non-bmr varieties become the most attractive option (MESP of $1.08/L-gasoline equivalent). While bmr varieties have lower lignin content, their comparatively lower biomass yield results in higher transportation costs that negate its fuel-yield advantage.

With a diverse and widely distributed global resource base, woody biomass is a compelling organic feedstock for conversion to renewable liquid fuels. In California, woody biomass comprises the largest fraction of underutilized biomass available for biofuel production, but conversion to fuels is challenged both by recalcitrance to deconstruction and by toxicity toward downstream saccharification and fermentation due to organic acids and phenolic compounds generated during pretreatment. In this study, we optimize pretreatment and scale-up of an integrated one-pot process for deconstruction of California woody biomass using the ionic liquid (IL) cholinium lysinate [Ch][Lys] as a pretreatment solvent. By evaluating the impact of solid loading, solid removal, yeast acclimatization, fermentation temperature, fermentation pH, and nutrient supplementation on final ethanol yields and titers, we achieve nearly full conversion of both glucose and xylose to ethanol with commercial C5-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We then demonstrate process scalability in 680 L pilot-scale fermentation, achieving >80% deconstruction efficiency, >90% fermentation efficiency, 27.7 g/L ethanol titer, and >80% ethanol distillation efficiency from the IL-containing hydrolysate post fermentation. This fully integrated process requires no intermediate separations and no intermediate detoxification of the hydrolysate. Using an integrated biorefinery model, current performance results in a minimum ethanol selling price of $8.8/gge. Reducing enzyme loading along with other minor process improvements can reduce the ethanol selling price to $3/gge. This study is the largest scale demonstration of IL pretreatment and biofuel conversion known to date, and the overall biomass-to-ethanol efficiencies are the highest reported to date for any IL-based biomass-to-biofuel conversion.

The use of new vehicle technologies such as fuel cell hybrid electric and fully electric powertrains for biomass feedstock supply is an unexplored solution to reducing biofuel production cost, greenhouse gas emissions, and health impacts. These technologies have found success in light-duty vehicle applications and are in development for heavy-duty trucks. This study presents the first detailed stochastic techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment of biomass feedstock supply systems with diesel, fuel cell hybrid electric, and fully electric trucks and determines their impacts on biofuel production considering butanol as a representative biofuel. This study finds that fuel cell hybrid electric and fully electric trucks consume less energy relative to the diesel-powered truck regardless of the evaluated circumstances, including payloads of truck (loaded and empty), pavement types (gravel and paved), road conditions (normal and damaged), and road networks (local and highways). The use of fuel cell hybrid and fully electric trucks powered by H2-fuel and renewable sources of electricity, respectively, results in a large reduction in cost and carbon footprint, specifically for a long-distance hauling, and minimize other economic and environmental impacts. While the economic advantage of fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle is dependent on the price of H2-fuel and road conditions, use reduces the GHG emissions of biobutanol per 100 km-trucking-distance by 0.98–10.9 gCO2e/MJ. Results show that converting to fully electric truck transport decreases the biobutanol production cost and GHG emissions per 100 km-trucking-distance by 0.4–7.3 cents/L and 0.78 to 9.1 gCO2e/MJ, respectively. This study establishes the foundation for future investigations that will guide the development of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable biomass feedstock supply system for cellulosic biorefineries or other goods transportation systems.

A central question surrounding possible human exploration of Mars is whether crewed missions can be supported by available technologies using in situ resources. Here, we show that photovoltaics-based power systems would be adequate and practical to sustain a crewed outpost for an extended period over a large fraction of the planet's surface. Climate data were integrated into a radiative transfer model to predict spectrally-resolved solar flux across the Martian surface. This informed detailed balance calculations for solar cell devices that identified optimal bandgap combinations for maximizing production capacity over a Martian year. We then quantified power systems, manufacturing, and agricultural demands for a six-person mission, which revealed that photovoltaics-based power generation would require, 5 pages, 4 figures, supplementary information

To support the large­scale integration of renewables in electricity grids, power­to­X­to­power (P2X2P) systems have been proposed. These systems serve to increase the flexibility of thermal power plants while potentially providing both economic and environmental benefits by allowing power from the plant to be redirected into an electrolyzer and converted to a gaseous energy carrier. In this study, the feasibility of a P2X2P system consisting of a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant coupled with a PEM electrolyzer in the Italian power sector has been investigated. A dynamic technoeconomic model has been developed for both hydrogen and ammonia­based systems together with a profit maximizing dispatch strategy for operation in both day­-ahead and balancing electricity markets. As a part of this, a PEM electrolyzer model was also developed and validated against experimental data. Notable technical improvements were observed as a consequence of the implementation of a P2X2P system in the form of avoided shutdowns and a more even power output. However, any economic and environmental benefits of such improvements were not observed as the addition of the P2X2P system led to a reduction in net present value as well as higher specific emissions of carbon dioxide. When the gaseous energy carrier was utilized as fuel in the CCGT, similar technical performances were achieved by the hydrogen­based and ammonia­based systems. Due to the increased investment cost demanded by the ammonia production process the hydrogen­based system thus seems most suitable for this setup. För att möjliggöra en storskalig utbyggnad av förnyelsebar energi har power­to­X­to­power­system (P2X2P) föreslagits som en potentiell lösning. Genom att omdirigera electricitet från kraftverket till en elektrolysator och därmed omvandla denna till vätgas kan dessa system förbättra den tekniska flexibiliten hos värmekraftverk samtidigt som de har potential att medföra både ekonomiska och miljömässiga fördelar. Detta examensarbete har undersökt den tekno­ekonomiska potentialen hos ett P2X2P­system bestående av ett gaskombikraftverk i anslutning till en elektrolysator i det italienska kraftnätet. En dynamisk, tekno­ekonomisk modell av både vätgas­ och ammoniakbaserade P2X2P­system samt en vinstmaximerande kontrollstrategi har utvecklats. En modell över en PEMelektrolysator har även utvecklats och validerats gentemot experimentella data. Införandet av ett P2X2P­system till kraftverket påvisade en teknisk förbättringspotential genom ett minskat antal uppstarter samt en mer jämn uteffekt. Huruvida denna tekniska förbättring också medför ekonomisk and miljömässig förbättring eller ej kvarstår att påvisa. Detta då nuvärdet minskade samtidigt som koldioxidutsläppen per producerad kilowatttimme ökade vid införandet av P2X2P­systemet. Då den producerade energibäraren, i form av vätgas eller ammoniak, enbart användes för att ersätta fossilgas som bränsle i kraftverket påvisades marginell skillnad i presetanda mellan de två systemen. De större kostnaderna som medförs av ett ammoniak­baserat system pekar därför på att ett vätgas­baserat system vore att föredra under sådana förutsättningar.

There is an urgent need for building energy services that are not only low-carbon but reliable. District energy systems (DES) have the potential to meet building power, heating and cooling needs efficiently and reliably, but further research is needed to understand their coupling with local renewable energy sources such as biomass. Here we assess the cost and greenhouse gas implications of using bioenergy from local organic waste to power DES in California communities. We describe a set of possible scenarios for bioenergy integration into DES, including fuel switching and retrofitting of existing systems and DES expansion through new projects. In all locations, DES have higher combined capital and operating expenses (ranging from $5–12 million) than conventional fossil fuel building thermal systems. However, the net amortized annual cost of DES can reach as low as 70% that of the conventional system from the sale of excess electricity. Bioenergy-powered DES can offer a cost of carbon abatement on par with distributed solar-powered building thermal systems (50% less to 34% more). Furthermore, upgrading existing DES from fossil to renewable natural gas represents an immediate economical path to decarbonize buildings.

In this study, it is aimed to conduct the thermodynamic and economic analysis of solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough collectors (PTC), linear Fresnel reflectors (LFR), and solar tower (ST) technologies for Cameroon. The analysis is performed for each power plant with the installed capacity of 5 MWe. Initial investment costs for the solar thermal power plants using PTC, LFR, and ST technologies are estimated to be 33.49 Million USD, 18.77 Million USD, and 36.31 Million USD, while levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) are found to be varying from 145.6 USD/MWh to 186.8 USD/MWh, 112.2 USD/MWh to 154.2 USD/MWh, and 179.2 USD/MWh to 220.4 USD/MWh, respectively. For the solar thermal power plants using PTC, LFR, and ST technologies, payback periods are obtained to be 6.57 years, 6.84 years, and 6.02 years, and also, internal rates on the return are calculated to be 21.03%, 20.42%, and 22.47%, respectively. Overall energy and exergy efficiency values are found to be 13.39% and 14.37%; 11.90% and 13.74%; 12.13% and 13.64% for the solar thermal power plants using PTC, LFR, and ST technologies, respectively. In conclusion, it is seen that LFR technology presents the best performance with the combination of thermodynamic and economic metrics for the deployment of solar thermal power plants in the countries in sub-Saharan Africa like Cameroon.

Biomass sorghum is a promising feedstock for cellulosic biorefineries because of its high yield and drought tolerance. However, the difficulty of effectively drying sorghum in some regions means that it may require different handling than previously studied grassy feedstocks. This study compares the delivered cost and life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of field drying and baling, module storage (wrapped, densely packed biomass), pelletizing, and ensiling. Ensiling has not been widely considered for use in bioenergy production. For farms within 66 km of the biorefinery, ensiled biomass is of the lowest cost and GHG strategy despite additional cost and energy demand for hauling wet biomass. Field drying and baling, if feasible, is the most cost-effective option for sorghum between 66 km and 104 km, beyond which pellets are preferable. A 2000 bone-dry-metric ton (bdt)/day biorefinery can source sorghum with 18 bdt/ha yield cultivated on 5% of surrounding land at costs ranging from $122 (silage) to $167 (pellets)/bdt and a life-cycle GHG footprint of 111 (silage) to 179 kg CO2e/bdt (pellets). With 28 bdt/ha biomass yield, 10% cultivation of surrounding land, and low fertilizer application, costs can range from $66 (silage) to $85 (pellets)/ bdt and GHG footprint of 43 (silage) to 96 kg CO2e (pellets)/bdt.

In the present study, we used a low-cost protic ionic liquid, 1-methylimidazolium chloride, to simultaneously fractionate heavy metal contaminated wood and extract the metals from the wood at elevated temperature and short reaction time. This treatment selectively dissolves the lignin and hemicellulose in the biomass, leaving a solid cellulose-rich pulp, while coordinating and extracting 80–100% of the metal species present in the wood in a one-pot process. The lignin stream was recovered from the liquor and the cellulose was hydrolysed and then fermented into ethanol. The ionic liquid was recycled 6 times and the metals were recovered from the liquor via electrodeposition. This is the first time that highly contaminated waste wood has been integrated into a process which does not produce a contaminated waste stream, but instead valorises the wood as a feedstock for renewable chemicals, materials and fuels, while efficiently recovering the metals, converting a toxic environmental hazard into a rich source of biorenewables. We have therefore used an otherwise problematic waste as a low-cost lignocellulsoic feedstock for a circular bioeconomy concept.

Biopharmaceutical protein production using transgenic plant cell bioreactor processes offers advantages over microbial and mammalian cell culture platforms in its ability to produce complex biologics with simple chemically defined media and reduced biosafety concerns. A disadvantage of plant cells from a traditional batch bioprocessing perspective is their slow growth rate which has motivated us to develop semicontinuous and/or perfusion processes. Although the economic benefits of plant cell culture bioprocesses are often mentioned in the literature, to our knowledge no rigorous technoeconomic models or analyses have been published. Here we present technoeconomic models in SuperPro Designer® for the large-scale production of recombinant butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), a prophylactic/therapeutic bioscavenger against organophosphate nerve agent poisoning, in inducible transgenic rice cell suspension cultures. The base facility designed to produce 25 kg BChE per year utilizing two-stage semicontinuous bioreactor operation manufactures a single 400 mg dose of BChE for $263. Semicontinuous operation scenarios result in 4-11% reduction over traditional two-stage batch operation scenarios. In addition to providing a simulation tool that will be useful to the plant-made pharmaceutical community, the model also provides a computational framework that can be used for other semicontinuous or batch bioreactor-based processes.

A high throughput experimentation (HTE) study identified active Ru metathesis catalysts and reaction conditions for the ethenolysis of maleate esters to the respective acrylate esters. Catalysts were tested at various loadings (75–10’000 ppm) and temperatures (30–60 °C) with maleate esters dissolved in toluene (up to ca. 44 wt‐%) or neat and at variable partial pressures of ethylene (0.2–10 bar). Ruthenium catalysts containing a PCy3 ligand, such as 1st or 2nd generation Grubbs catalysts, as well as the state‐of‐the‐art catalysts containing cyclic alkyl amino carbene (CAAC) ligands, are generally inferior to Hoveyda–Grubbs 2nd generation catalyst in ethenolysis of maleates. Productive turnover numbers could exceed 1900 if the ethenolysis reaction is performed at low ethylene pressure (0.2–3 bar) and reach 5200 when a polymeric phenol additive was used. Such catalytic performance falls well within the window practiced in industry. Moreover, a crude technoeconomic analysis finds similar production cost for the ethenolysis route and conventional technology, that is, propene oxidation followed by esterification, justifying research to further improve the ethenolysis route. ISSN:0018-019X ISSN:1522-2675

Significance Cellulosic biofuels have not yet reached cost parity with conventional petroleum fuels. One strategy to address this challenge is to generate valuable coproducts alongside biofuels. Engineering bioenergy crops to generate value-added bioproducts in planta can reduce input requirements relative to microbial chassis and skip costly deconstruction and conversion steps. Although rapid progress has been made in plant metabolic engineering, there has been no systematic analysis devoted to quantifying the impact of such engineered bioenergy crops on biorefinery economics. Here, we provide new insights into how bioproduct accumulation in planta affects biofuel selling prices. We present the range of bioproduct selling prices and accumulation rates needed to compensate for additional extraction steps and reach a target $2.50/gal minimum biofuel selling price., Coproduction of high-value bioproducts at biorefineries is a key factor in making biofuels more cost-competitive. One strategy for generating coproducts is to directly engineer bioenergy crops to accumulate bioproducts in planta that can be fractionated and recovered at biorefineries. Here, we develop quantitative insights into the relationship between bioproduct market value and target accumulation rates by investigating a set of industrially relevant compounds already extracted from plant sources with a wide range of market prices and applications, including $100/kg (artemisinin). These compounds are used to identify a range of mass fraction thresholds required to achieve net economic benefits for biorefineries and the additional amounts needed to reach a target $2.50/gal biofuel selling price, using cellulosic ethanol production as a test case. Bioproduct market prices and recovery costs determine the accumulation threshold; we find that moderate- to high-value compounds (i.e., cannabidiol and artemisinin) offer net economic benefits at accumulation rates of just 0.01% dry weight (dwt) to 0.02 dwt%. Lower-value compounds, including limonene, latex, and PHB, require at least an order-of-magnitude greater accumulation to overcome additional extraction and recovery costs (0.3 to 1.2 dwt%). We also find that a diversified approach is critical. For example, global artemisinin demand could be met with fewer than 10 biorefineries, while global demand for latex is equivalent to nearly 180 facilities. Our results provide a roadmap for future plant metabolic engineering efforts aimed at increasing the value derived from bioenergy crops.

Progress in continuous flow chemistry over the past two decades has facilitated significant developments in the flow synthesis of a wide variety of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), the foundation of Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (CPM), which has gained interest for its potential to reduce material usage, energy and costs and the ability to access novel processing windows that would be otherwise hazardous if operated via traditional batch techniques. Design space investigation of manufacturing processes is a useful task in elucidating attainable regions of process performance and product quality attributes that can allow insight into process design and optimization prior to costly experimental campaigns and pilot plant studies. This study discusses recent demonstrations from the literature on design space investigation and visualization for continuous API production and highlights attainable regions of recoveries, material efficiencies, flowsheet complexity and cost components for upstream (reaction + separation) via modeling, simulation and nonlinear optimization, providing insight into optimal CPM operation.

Global changes in temperature will likely change energy use and electricity production capacity. Considering the relationship between climate change and energy resource use, changes in temperature and the frequency and intensity of extreme events will affect how much energy is produced and consumed. The green economy and green growth are located at the heart of the fight against climate change in creating sustainable development. This paper considers the multidirectional relations between climate change, energy resources, and sustainable development including the perspective of a green economy via a technoeconomic analysis. A link among energy resources, climate changes and sustainable development has been displayed via a technoeconomic analysis in the case study, which was focused on taking into consideration the needs of the hydroponic units, the product selling price, the electricity price of the wind farm (WF), and at the same time the energy demand, under a nexus approach. Via the technoeconomic analysis, it was proven that moving on to smaller investments of 2 MWs is more efficient compared to larger projects e.g. 18 MWs, however, this cannot be considered immediately as the preferred solution since it is always a matter of impact on the local society. Certified Laboratory of Wind Measurements of Vector Hellenic Windfarms S.A.

An optimization workflow is introduced which integrates multi-objective optimization of lignocellulolytic enzyme cocktail ingredients with a bioethanol production process where the enzymes are utilized. The workflow integrates data collection via exploratory experiments, modeling via Kriging, Pareto-based multi-objective optimization, and process simulation. The critical links in the integration are calculation of enzyme cocktail performance and cost. This allows the identification of the best Pareto-optimal result depending on process simulation results. The workflow is demonstrated on a case study involving the production of lignocellulolytic enzymes laccase, β-glucosidase, and carboxymethyl cellulase by a white rot fungus, Pycnoporus sanguineus DSMZ 3024. Concentrations of various carbon and nitrogen sources and culture duration are optimized. Two cases are analyzed: i) where all culture conditions and three enzyme activities are assumed to affect enzyme cost and performance equally; ii) where culture duration and β-glucosidase activity are assumed to respectively affect enzyme cost and performance more significantly compared to the other factors. The integrated optimization workflow identified a shift from a malt extract dominant growth medium in the first case to a yeast extract dominant medium in the second. This shift could not have been identified without the proposed workflow.

Producing syngas, a blend of CO and H2, is the starting point to the large-scale production of valuable chemicals including fuels and methanol. This study evaluates pathways for syngas production from air-captured and tail-gas captured CO2 in terms of net CO2 emissions, energy efficiency and associated costs. We analyzed three direct air capture (DAC) to syngas plants (H2/CO = 2.5, suitable for Fischer Tropsch or methanol synthesis) that perform the CO2-reduction step by either: i) thermocatalytic reverse water gas shift (rWGS); ii) gaseous CO2-electrolysis, and iii) direct (bi)carbonate electrolysis of the carbon capture solution. The gaseous electrolysis plant did not offer any advantage over the thermolytic rWGS because it implied similar net CO2 emissions (equivalent to 50% of the CO2 captured initially), even if renewable electricity is used. The carbon footprint of the gas CO2-electrolysis pathway originates in the calcination step for the CO2 recovery from the air and tail-gas capture solutions. Only a significant improvement in state-of-the-art single pass conversion of CO2 in gas CO2-electrolyzers (10-30%) would decrease the associated CO2 emissions. In contrast, the novel DAC-(bi)carbonate electrolysis offered the best pathway in terms of net CO2 emissions. However, it entailed higher syngas costs (1.90 $ kg −1) compared to gaseous electrolysis (1.30 $ kg−1) or the conventional rWGS (1.1 $ kg−1) pathways. The DAC-carbonate electrolysis plant may become cost-competitive with reasonable improvements in performance, mainly faradaic efficiency to CO and cell voltage, electricity price < 35 $ MWh−1 and membrane price < 450 $ m−2. Even in the best case scenario all the CO2-based alternatives entailed a higher levelized cost of syngas, synfuel or methanol than current retail prices.

This work investigated a model biorefinery for producing phenolic compounds extract, ethanol and xylitol from spent blackberry pulp (SBP). The biorefinery was investigated according to four potential scenarios including mass and heat integrations as well as cogeneration system for supplying part of the energy requirements in the biorefinery. The investigated SBP had 61.54% holocellulose; its total phenolic compounds was equivalent to 2,700 mg of gallic acid/100 g SBP, its anthocyanins content was 126.41 mg/kg of SBP and its total antioxidant activity was 174.8 μmol TE/g of SBP. The economic analysis revealed that the level of integration in the biorefinery significantly affected the total production cost. The sale-to-total-production-cost ratio indicated that both, mass and heat integrations are of importance relevance. The cost of supplies (enzymes and reagents) had the most significant impact on the total production cost and accounted between 46.72 and 58.95% of the total cost of the biorefinery.

Significance Global warming as a result of rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations is considered an imminent threat to society. In order to address rising CO2 concentrations, effective CO2 capture directly from the atmosphere is likely to be necessary. We integrate direct air capture CO2 and water splitting to produce a mixture of CO2 and H2 via a thermochemical water-splitting cycle. This mixture can, in turn, be used to produce valuable chemicals by known technologies. We demonstrate via experimental investigations and a technoeconomic analysis that the demonstrated integration of the 2 technologies into a single overall process has the potential to become economically favorable in some situations., Renewable production of fuels and chemicals from direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 is a highly desired goal. Here, we report the integration of the DAC of CO2 with the thermochemical splitting of water to produce CO2, H2, O2, and electricity. The produced CO2 and H2 can be converted to value-added chemicals via existing technologies. The integrated process uses thermal solar energy as the only energy input and has the potential to provide the dual benefits of combating anthropogenic climate change while creating renewable chemicals. A sodium–manganese–carbonate (Mn–Na–CO2) thermochemical water-splitting cycle that simultaneously drives renewable H2 production and DAC of CO2 is demonstrated. An integrated reactor is designed and fabricated to conduct all steps of the thermochemical water-splitting cycle that produces close to stoichiometric amounts (∼90%) of H2 and O2 (illustrated with 6 consecutive cycles). The ability of the cycle to capture 75% of the ∼400 ppm CO2 from air is demonstrated also. A technoeconomic analysis of the integrated process for the renewable production of H2, O2, and electricity, as well as DAC of CO2 shows that the proposed scheme of solar-driven H2 production from thermochemical water splitting coupled with CO2 DAC may be economically viable under certain circumstances.

Recombinant proteins have been produced for over 30 years. Applications range from enzymes used in laundry detergents to antigen-detecting antibodies in cancer therapy. Despite similarities in manufacturing, drastic differences in retail pricing between recombinant proteins used for industrial (non-medical) versus pharmaceutical purposes exist. Industrial proteins often have a retail price in the tens of dollars per kilogram while recombinant proteins for medical use may cost billions of dollars per kilogram. This manuscript will briefly review manufacturing techniques and contrast the differences between industrial versus pharmaceutical production. Maximizing manufacturing technologies to reduce cost-of-goods (CoG) is desirable. However, the major reason for the very high pricing of pharma protein products does not reflect CoG, but the financial obligations of clinical trials, research and development, patent constraints, marketing, and return on investment.