In the near-to-medium future, hydrogen production will continue to rely on reforming of widely available and relatively low-cost fossil resources. A techno-economic framework is described that compares the current best practice steam methane reforming (SMR) with potential pathways for low-CO2 hydrogen production; (i) Electrolysis coupled to sustainable renewable electricity sources; (ii) Reforming of hydrocarbons coupled with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and; (iii) Thermal dissociation of hydrocarbons into hydrogen and carbon (pyrolysis). For methane pyrolysis, a process based on a catalytic molten Ni-Bi alloy is described and used for comparative cost estimates. In the absence of a price on carbon, SMR has the lowest cost of hydrogen production. For low-CO2 hydrogen production, methane pyrolysis is significantly more economical than electrochemical-based processes using commercial renewable power sources. At a carbon price exceeding $21 t−1 CO2 equivalent, pyrolysis may represent the most cost-effective means of producing low-CO2 hydrogen and competes favorably to SMR with carbon capture and sequestration. The current cost disparity between renewable and fossil-based hydrogen production suggests that if hydrogen is to fulfil an expanding role in a low CO2 future, then large-scale production of hydrogen from methane pyrolysis is the most cost-effective means during the transition period while infrastructure and end-use applications are deployed.
CITATION STYLE
Parkinson, B., Tabatabaei, M., Upham, D. C., Ballinger, B., Greig, C., Smart, S., & McFarland, E. (2018). Hydrogen production using methane: Techno-economics of decarbonizing fuels and chemicals. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 43(5), 2540–2555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.12.081
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