Exploring the Perspectives of Alternative Fuels Production. Towards alternative fuels with zero, or negative greenhouse gas emissions, considering coal, biomass and carbon capture and storage

In this report it is shown that future improvements in the production process of Fischer-Tropsch fuels can reduce costs and produce CO2 neutral gasoline and diesel. Major benefits lie in the improvement of the overall temperature profile of the plant at higher temperatures and carbon capture and storage. Based on literature studies, it was found that future technologies can operate at higher temperatures, and thus a better integration of heating and cooling. It was found that the future model of a CBTL (Coal and Biomass To Liquids) plant can produce liquids at a break-even oil price (BEOP) of 58.60 USD/barrel at 100% coal, with similar greenhouse gas emissions compared to liquids produced by conventional means today. However, once biomass is introduced at a ratio of 33% - 67% biomass, a CBTL plant becomes neutral in terms of GHG emissions. The BEOP for this neutral scenario is 69.60 USD/barrel. Looking at the 100% biomass scenario, the BEOP becomes 82.77 USD/barrel. The greenhouse gas emissions at this point are negative, meaning that more CO2 is captured during the process than is needed to grow biomass. This in effect makes a CBTL plant a carbon sink. By introducing future technologies and improvements, such as membrane technology for CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage), higher FTS (Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis) catalyst selectivities and an overall better temperature profile, the BEOP for the 100% coal scenario drops from 58.60 to 45.27 USD/barrel. The BEOP for the neutral scenario drops from 69.60 to 57.99 USD/barrel. The BEOP for the 100% biomass scenario drops from 82.77 to 69.07 USD/barrel. For the neutral scenario, the BEOP drops from 69.60 to 57.99 USD/barrel. If one assumes that a BEOP of 60 USD/barrel is economically reasonable, one can calculate the level of a carbon tax, once a carbon tax regime is imposed. For SOTA (state-of-the-art) 100% coal, FS (Future Scenario) 100%, FS 50% coal and FS 33% coal, there is no need for a carbon tax to reach 60 USD/barrel, since the BEOPs for these scenarios are already below this number. For all the other scenarios, the carbon tax varies between 31.51 to 78.83 USD/tonnes C.