Alternative fuels from Biomass and Power (PBtL) A case study on process options, technical potentials, fuel costs and ecological performance

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector can significantly be reduced by replacing fossil based fuels with biomass-based alternatives. Several promising fuel production paths of the second generation made from residues and waste wood had already been developed in recent years. These fuel concepts typically suffer from the axiomatically limited technical potential of biomass resources in central Europe. Furthermore, fuel costs are currently not competitive on the market. In order to change this state, the German Aerospace Center has refined existing Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) and Power-to-Liquid (PtL) concepts to the so-called Power&Biomass-to-Liquid concept. The main idea is to utilize the large technical exploitation potential of renewable electricity in modified BtL plants. The case study presents detailed results on promising process configurations of Fischer-Tropsch PBtL concepts based on different gasifier and electrolyzer technologies, the expectable technical fuel potential, fuel production costs and CO2 footprint. As a result, the fuel output of BtL plants can be nearly quadrupled at the same biomass input. Hence, fuel costs can significantly be reduced due to economy of scale effects. Furthermore, the specific CO2 footprint of the fuel is reduced as well.