Renewable Hydrogen Utilisation for the Production of Methanol

Electrolytic hydrogen production is an efficient way of storing renewable-energy generated electricity and securing the contribution of renewables in future electricity supply. The use of this hydrogen for the production of methanol results in a liquid fuel that can be utilised directly with minor changes in the existing infrastructure. To utilise the renewable-generated hydrogen for the production of renewable methanol, a sustainable carbon source is needed. This carbon can be provided by biomass or CO2 in the flue gases of fossil fuel-fired power stations, cement factories, fermentation processes and water purification plants. Methanol production pathways via biomass gasification and CO2 recovery from the flue gasses of a fossil fuel-fired power station have been reviewed in this study. The cost of methanol production from biomass was found to lie in the range of 300-400 €/tonne of methanol and the production cost of CO2-based methanol was between 500 and 600 €/tonne. Despite the higher production costs compared with the methanol produced by conventional natural gas reforming (i.e. 100 to 200 €/tonne, aided by the low current price of natural gas), these new processes incorporate environmentally beneficial aspects that have to be taken into account.