Evaluation of value chain configurations for fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass - Integration, feedstock, and product choice

Highlights: • Different value chain configurations for the fast pyrolysis process were evaluated. • Industrial integration was favoured for the production cost. • Production cost for crude pyrolysis liquids was in the range of 36–60 EUR/MWh. • High uncertainty in CO₂ mitigation potential for production of diesel and petrol. • CO₂ performance using hydroprocessing is dependent on emissions from H₂ production. Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass constitutes a promising technology to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The product, pyrolysis liquids, can either substitute heavy fuel oil directly, or be upgraded via e.g. hydroprocessing to diesel and petrol. This study presents a systematic evaluation of production costs and CO₂ mitigation potentials of different fast pyrolysis value chain configurations. The evaluation considers types of localisations, emissions from electricity and hydrogen production, biomass feedstocks, and final products. The resulting production costs were found to be in the range of 36–60 EUR/MWh for crude pyrolysis liquids, and 61–90 EUR/MWh upgraded to diesel and petrol. Industrial integration was found to be favoured. The CO₂ mitigation potential for the pyrolysis liquids was in the range of 187–282 t-CO₂/GWh biomass. High variations were found when upgraded to diesel and petrol –best-case scenario resulted in a mitigation of 347 t-CO₂/GWh biomass, while worst-case scenarios resulted in net CO₂ emissions. Favourable policy support, continued technology development, and/or increased fossil fuel prices are required for the technology to be adapted on an industrial scale. It was concluded that integration with existing industrial infrastructure can contribute to cost reductions and thus help enable the transformation of traditional forest industry into biorefineries.