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 t_MeOH (189–236, 94–104, 61–68 and 50–54 € per MWh_MeOH,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 t_CO2 emissions cost could increase the cost of natural gas-based methanol to about 300 € per t_MeOH (47 € per MWh_MeOH,HHV), thus significantly improving the cost competitiveness of e-methanol in the market.