Renewable OME from biomass and electricity—Evaluating carbon footprint and energy performance

Abstract

Renewable drop-in fuels provide a short- to medium-term solution to decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector. Polyoxymethylene ethers (OME) are among interesting candidates with production pathways both from biomass (bio-OME) as well as electricity and CO2 (e-OME) proposed. In the present study, both bio- and e-OME production via methanol are assessed for energy performance and carbon footprint. Process integration methods are applied to evaluate synergies from colocating methanol production with further conversion to OME. Even a hybrid process, combing bio- and e-OME production is evaluated. The energy efficiency of bio-OME is considerably higher than for the e-OME pathway, and colocation synergies are more evident for bio-OME. Carbon footprint is evaluated according to EUs recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). If renewable electricity and natural gas are used for power and heat supply, respectively, results indicate that all pathways may be counted toward the renewable fuel targets under RED II. The largest emissions reduction is 92.8% for colocated hybrid-OME production. Carbon footprints of e- and hybrid-OME are highly sensitive to the carbon intensity of electricity, and the carbon intensity of the heat supply has a major impact on results for all pathways except colocated bio- and hybrid-OME.