Economic evaluation of bio-based supply chains with CO2 capture and utilisation

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) are acknowledged as important R&D priorities to achieve environmental goals set for next decades. This work studies biomass-based energy supply chains with CO2 capture and utilisation. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program. This study presents a flexible supply chain superstructure to answer issues on economic and environmental benefits achievable by integrating biomass-coal plants, CO2 capture and utilisation plants; i.e. location of intermediate steps, fraction of CO2 emissions captured per plant, CO2 utilisation plants' size, among others. Moreover, eventual incentives and environmental revenues will be discussed to make an economically feasible project. A large-size case study located in Spain will be presented to highlight the proposed approach. Two key scenarios are envisaged: (i) Biomass, capture or utilisation of CO2 are not contemplated; (ii) Biomass, capture and CO2 utilisation are all considered. Finally, concluding remarks are drawn.