Abstract
Biofuels and electrofuels have the potential to complement electrification in speeding greenhouse gas emissions reductions, especially in hard-to-decarbonize sectors. Concentrated waste CO2 streams that can be used as a feedstock for electrofuels, however, may become less available as the share of renewable electricity increases and industries undergo decarbonization. We conduct an analysis with detailed treatment of biofuels and electrofuels to probe their role in decarbonizing multiple industrial sectors and transportation. We examine how the changing availability of CO2 could affect electrofuel production and the potential role of direct air capture in stabilizing the supply of CO2. The results indicate that biofuels could fulfill 12% of the total final energy demand across all U.S. sectors in 2050. Using seven industrial source points of CO2 available in 2050, 15,388 PJ of electrofuels could be produced, which amounts to 25% of the total final energy demand. This result holds even upon decarbonization that requires direct air capture to boost the CO2 supply. Biofuels and e-fuels have the potential to reduce economy-wide GHG emissions by 7 and 21% beyond electrification alone. However, electricity consumption and land use grow markedly with decarbonization at scale.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 6048-6061 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Energy and Fuels |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 4 2024 |
Funding
The research reported in this paper was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), through the DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Consortium. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and guidance of Alicia Lindauer at BETO, Kevin Stork at VTO, and the Co-Optima Leadership Team. This work was supported by DOE contract DE-AC02-06CH11357 at Argonne National Laboratory. Funding was provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemical Engineering
- Fuel Technology
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
