Issue 10, 2024

Global production potential of green methanol based on variable renewable electricity

Abstract

Methanol is a primary petrochemical globally. Green methanol, produced by Power-to-X technologies, is a potential solution to the defossilisation of the existing methanol supply and fossil fuel substitution. This study investigates the optimal system configuration for the lowest cost green e-methanol production from electrolytic hydrogen and atmospheric carbon dioxide based on an hourly power supply by hybrid PV-wind systems in a 0.45° × 0.45° spatial resolution. Results suggest that, by 2030, solar PV will be the dominating electricity generation technology in most parts of the world. For a weighted average cost of capital of 7%, e-methanol could be produced for a cost range of 1200–1500, 600–680, 390–430 and 315–350 € per tMeOH (189–236, 94–104, 61–68 and 50–54 € per MWhMeOH,HHV) at the best sites in 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050, respectively. By 2040, the production cost of e-methanol will be within the market prices, suggesting that methanol supply could be defossilised at no extra cost for consumers. Conversely, e-methanol costs remain higher than the cost of natural gas-based methanol for fuel prices below 11 USD per MBtu. However, the introduction of up to 150 € per tCO2 emissions cost could increase the cost of natural gas-based methanol to about 300 € per tMeOH (47 € per MWhMeOH,HHV), thus significantly improving the cost competitiveness of e-methanol in the market.

Graphical abstract: Global production potential of green methanol based on variable renewable electricity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Sept. 2023
Accepted
04 Apr. 2024
First published
29 Apr. 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2024,17, 3503-3522

Global production potential of green methanol based on variable renewable electricity

M. Fasihi and C. Breyer, Energy Environ. Sci., 2024, 17, 3503 DOI: 10.1039/D3EE02951D

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