Utilization or Sequestration for Captured CO₂ from Cement Plants?

The scope of this work is to assess the economic competitivity of optimized CO2 capture and utilization process (CCU) for e-methanol production with respect to CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) in three locations (southern Italy, northern Germany, northeastern Egypt) and two economic scenarios (short- and long-term) for the cost of renewable energy technologies. The final aim is to determine the optimal sizing and operation of the process units of the system by minimizing the total costs to be sustained by a cement producer. At a methanol selling price of 550 €/t, which is consistent with the current market price, CCS is economically more competitive than CCU in the short-term scenario in all locations. In the long-term scenario, due to the reduced costs of renewable energy technologies, CCU becomes the preferable option in a large majority of the assessed cases. In the long-term scenario, the breakeven methanol selling price in Italy with respect to CCS was found to increase from 384 €/t to 570 €/t if low-cost hydrogen storage is not available and H2 is stored in pressurized vessels (as alternative to caverns). In Germany, from 542 €/t to 778 €/t. In Egypt, from 402 to 501 €/t. Overall, this study shows that e-methanol production from captured CO2 in European countries may be competitive with e-methanol produced in more favorable locations, such as Egypt, only in the long-term, at the condition of a substantial cost reduction of renewable energy technologies, and of the persistency of a differential cost of capital with respect to renewables-rich emerging countries.