Scenario assessment of introducing carbon utilization and carbon removal technologies considering future technological transition based on renewable energy and direct air capture.

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies have the potential to significantly contribute to GHG reduction. Numerous studies have evaluated the CO 2 reduction effects and economics of CCUs and CDRs; however, uncertainties in these evaluations due to various regional characterizations and future technological transitions are of high importance. In this study, four synthetic fuels (fuels produced from captured CO 2 and H 2), methanol, methane, gasoline, and diesel, were evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA). Five representative countries with different regional characteristics were selected for the study. A bottom-up integrated LCA/TEA approach was used, involving detailed process simulations to avoid uncertainties and to evaluate future technological transitions based on direct air capture (DAC) and renewable energy. The overarching objective of this study was to provide a transparent framework with a common dataset generation methodology to determine the countries that have the advantages/disadvantages in synthetic fuel production and sale, considering the local operational parameters and large-scale introduction of DAC/renewable energy. Such multiple synthetic fuel analyses across various jurisdictions have not been conducted in previous studies. The results showed that the highest and lowest CO 2 reductions were achieved by diesel (average 6.33 kg-CO 2 ·kg−1) and methanol (average 3.43 kg-CO 2 ·kg−1), respectively, whereas the highest and lowest product costs were of gasoline (average 2.96 USD·kg−1) and methanol (average 0.82 USD·kg−1), respectively. The technological transition using DAC and renewable energy showed average CO 2 emission reductions of 47% (methanol), 99% (methane), 545% (gasoline), and 621% (diesel). Moreover, in the future, the lowest CO 2 emission reduction costs are expected in Germany for methanol and diesel, Australia for methane, and Canada for gasoline. These findings can contribute to improving international collaboration to promote CCU and CDR technologies. • Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and CO 2 removal (CDR) technologies were evaluated for four representative synthetic fuels. • CO 2 reductions and costs were analyzed for different CCU pathways, scenarios, and countries. • Diesel fuel was found to be the most effective CCU pathway in terms of cost and potential. • Germany and Canada have economical advantage for CCU production, while U.S, has in potential. • Detailed process modeling was combined with cost and GHG emission estimation for multiple jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]