Economic comparison of different electric fuels for energy scenarios in 2035.

Highlights • We compare mobility cost of three different e-fuels, diesel, methanol, and LOHC. • The energy market design has a major influence on the production costs of e-fuels. • Dynamic and price-sensitive production of e-fuels can make them competitive in 2035. • LOHC is the most cost-effective option compared to synthetic diesel or methanol. • The optimal setup of e-fuel production is decisively affected by the market design. Abstract Electric fuels (e-fuels) enable CO 2 -neutral mobility and are therefore an alternative to battery-powered electric vehicles. This paper compares the cost-effectiveness of Fischer-Tropsch diesel, methanol and Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers. The production costs of those fuels are to a large part driven by the energy-intensive electrolytic hydrogen production. In this paper, we apply a multi-level electricity market model to calculate future hourly electricity prices for various electricity market designs in Germany for the year 2035. We then assess the economic efficiency of the different fuels under various future market conditions. In particular, we use the electricity price vectors derived from an electricity market model calibrated for 2035 as an input for a mathematical model of the entire process chain from hydrogen production and chemical bonding to the energetic utilization of the fuels in a vehicle. Within this model, we perform a sensitivity analysis, which quantifies the impact of various parameters on the fuel production cost. Most importantly, we consider prices resulting from own model calculations for different energy market designs, the investment cost for the electrolysis systems and the carbon dioxide purchase price. The results suggest that the use of hydrogen, which is temporarily bound to Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers, is a favorable alternative to the more widely discussed synthetic diesel and methanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]