TECHNO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY TRANSITION OPTIONS

Abstract

A methodology will be presented to assess sustainable production pathways based on rigorous process simulation of large-scale chemical plants, standardized methods and data for chemical engineering cost estimation, LCA methods and data for environmental impact assessment to provide one standard Techno Economic Process Evaluation Tool (TEPET). It indicates the need for detailed process knowledge and experimentally validated steady-state process flow diagram simulation as a reliable assessment fundament. TEPET establishes an automated link to its unit cost database as well as to an external LCA database, automating the calculation of production costs and environmental impact analysis. Derived from multiple projects with different approaches towards defossilization of transport and basic materials industries, specific outcomes will be highlighted to demonstrate the benefits of TEPET usage. These include: • Non-crop-based biomass usage for sustainable fuels, • Renewable energy production in preferred world regions and long-distance transport options to Germany, • PtL process parameter optimization for efficiency maximization and cost reduction, • Power-to-fuels options like methane, methanol, DMC, DME, OME and others, • Renewable power introduction into the BtL process for fuel output increase, • Vision of a European sustainable aviation fuels roadmap until 2030 and beyond, • Defossilization of the glass furnace process as one example for future sustainable basic materials industry in Germany