[Blog 2] Decarbonization of the industry: why electrification is not enough
Global warming, and in turn the greenhouse effect, is mainly caused by the rising level of CO2 in the atmosphere. The CO2 concentration has been rising since the pre-industrial era because of the consumption of fossil fuels, mainly used for energy production and industrial processes. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report published in 2019, keeping CO2 below 430 ppm should allow the world to limit the increase of global average temperature to 1.5 ºC with respect to pre-industrial levels, what would avoid the most catastrophic results of the global warming. However, at current rates, that level of atmospheric carbon is just a few years away.
Source: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The abatement of CO2 is promoted through the substitution of fossil fuels by renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy. This replacement is common for example in transport, thanks to the implementation of electric vehicles charged with renewable electricity coming from wind parks and solar fields. Moreover, photovoltaic solar panels, installed in the roof of buildings, allow for avoiding the consumption of fossil electricity for residential uses. This kind of direct substitution of fossil fuels by renewable electricity is called electrification.
Performing electrification in the industry is key to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, this is not always possible. Sometimes CO2 cannot be avoided because the nature of the process requires using a fuel (aviation, shipping, ironmaking), while in other occasions the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere comes from the industrial process itself instead from the consumption of a fossil fuel (cement production).
Source: Ueckerdt et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01032-7
In the first case, a potential solution is to use renewable e-fuels, which are originally produced by using renewable electricity. The e-fuels are based on hydrogen, which is renewable produced through water electrolysis consuming renewable electricity, by separating the water molecule H2O into its constituents H2 and O2. Then, the hydrogen can be combined with carbon C to produce carbonaceous fuels such as methane CH4 or jet fuels. When the carbon C comes from CO2, the fuel produced can be considered neutral in CO2 emissions (its emissions equal the CO2 consumed for its production), so its consumption will not imply an increment in the total CO2 emissions.
In the second case, when an industrial process produces CO2 even if a fossil fuel is not consumed, the options to mitigate the CO2 emissions are either to capture and store this CO2 underground, or either produce e-fuels to recycle the CO2 emissions. The DISIPO project actively research on the production of renewable methane CH4 by consuming CO2, to be used in the industry.
Project info
1 April 2021 – 30 June 2023
Total budget: 188,442.24 €
Spain
• University of Zaragoza
Japan
• Waseda University (Nakagaki Lab)
Austria
• K1-MET GmbH
General coordinator
M. Bailera (mbailera@unizar.es)
University of Zaragoza
Further information: cordis.europa.eu
[1] A review on CO2 mitigation in the Iron and Steel industry through Power to X processes. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, LM Romeo. Journal of CO2 Utilization, Volume 46, 1 April 2021, Pages 101456.
[2] CO2 recycling in the Iron and Steel Industry via Power-to-Gas and Oxy-Fuel Combustion. J Perpiñán, M Bailera, LM Romeo, B Peña, V Eveloy. Energies, Volume 14, 29 October 2021, Pages 7090.
[3] Revisiting the Rist diagram for predicting operating conditions in blast furnaces with multiple injections. M Bailera, T Nakagaki, R Kataoka. Open Research Europe, Volume 1:141, 29 November 2021.
[4] Synthetic natural gas production in a 1 kW reactor using Ni–Ce/Al2O3 and Ru–Ce/Al2O3: Kinetics, catalyst degradation and process design. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, A Alarcón, J Guilera, J Perpiñán, LM Romeo. Energy, Volume 256, 1 October 2022, Pages 124720.
[1] The global warming paradox of the colder winters
[2] Decarbonization of the industry: why electrification is not enough
[3] What is Power to Gas?
[4] How does it look a methanation plant? (laboratory at Unizar)
[5] Why the reutilization of CO2 must be smart?
[6] How does it work a Blast Furnace?
[7] Power to X routes for the decarbonization of ironmaking
[8] How does it look a blast furnace simulation? (Aspen Plus software)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 887077.
Project info
1 April 2021 – 30 June 2023
Total budget: 188,442.24 €
Spain
• University of Zaragoza Japan
• Waseda University (Nakagaki Lab) Austria
• K1-MET GmbH
General coordinator
M. Bailera (mbailera@unizar.es)
University of Zaragoza
Further information: cordis.europa.eu
[1] A review on CO2 mitigation in the Iron and Steel industry through Power to X processes. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, LM Romeo. Journal of CO2 Utilization, Volume 46, 1 April 2021, Pages 101456.
[2] CO2 recycling in the Iron and Steel Industry via Power-to-Gas and Oxy-Fuel Combustion. J Perpiñán, M Bailera, LM Romeo, B Peña, V Eveloy. Energies, Volume 14, 29 October 2021, Pages 7090.
[3] Revisiting the Rist diagram for predicting operating conditions in blast furnaces with multiple injections. M Bailera, T Nakagaki, R Kataoka. Open Research Europe, Volume 1:141, 29 November 2021.
[4] Synthetic natural gas production in a 1 kW reactor using Ni–Ce/Al2O3 and Ru–Ce/Al2O3: Kinetics, catalyst degradation and process design. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, A Alarcón, J Guilera, J Perpiñán, LM Romeo. Energy, Volume 256, 1 October 2022, Pages 124720.
[1] The global warming paradox of the colder winters
[2] Decarbonization of the industry: why electrification is not enough
[3] What is Power to Gas?
[4] How does it look a methanation plant? (laboratory at Unizar)
[5] Why the reutilization of CO2 must be smart?
[6] How does it work a Blast Furnace?
[7] Power to X routes for the decarbonization of ironmaking
[8] How does it look a blast furnace simulation? (Aspen Plus software)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 887077.