Direct conversion of renewable hydrogen and CO2 to liquid fuels: Economic and environmental perspective

With the growing concerns about global warming, there is an increasing emphasis worldwide on carbon-to-value technologies. In particular, the power-to-liquid technology, which converts CO₂ into valuable fuels along with renewable hydrogen, is crucial for energy security and greenhouse gas reduction. This study proposes two innovative approaches for the large-scale production of liquid fuels through CO₂ direct hydrogenation. To improve the carbon efficiency of the overall process, two integrative processes utilizing the byproducts are suggested: (1) a base case integrating a hydrogen production unit using steam methane reforming and (2) an alternative case integrating a syngas production unit using autothermal reforming. The economic and environmental feasibility of the proposed processes was evaluated through a comprehensive analysis. Accordingly, the minimum selling price of liquid fuels was calculated at $233/bbl for the base case and $214/bbl for the alternative case, with a global warming potential of 1.61 and 1.14 kg CO₂ eq for the base and alternative cases, respectively. Furthermore, strategies to increase the market competitiveness of the developed process have been proposed based on a sensitivity analysis of the economic and environmental parameters.