Economic potential for substitution of fossil fuels with liquefied biomethane in Swedish iron and steel industry – Synergy and competition with other sectors Show others and affiliations
2020 (English) In: Energy Conversion and Management, ISSN 0196-8904, E-ISSN 1879-2227, Vol. 209, article id 112641Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In Sweden, the iron and steel industry (ISI) is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of the emissions result from the use of fossil reducing agents. Nevertheless, the use of fossil fuels for other purposes must also be eliminated in order to reach the Swedish emissions reduction targets. In this study, we investigate the possibility to replace fossil gaseous and liquid fuels used for heating in the ISI, with liquefied biomethane (LBG) produced through gasification of forest residues. We hypothesize that such utilization of fuels in the Swedish ISI is insufficient to independently drive the development of large-scale LBG production, and that other sectors demanding LBG, e.g., for transportation, can be expected to influence the economic potential for the ISI to switch to LBG. The paper investigates how demand for LBG from other sectors can contribute to, or prevent, a phase-out of fossil fuels used for heating purposes in the ISI under different future energy market scenarios, with additional analysis of the impact of a CO2 emissions charge. A geographically explicit cost-minimizing biofuel production localization model is combined with heat integration and energy market scenario analysis. The results show that from a set of possible future energy market scenarios, none yielded more than a 9% replacement of fossil fuels used for heating purposes in the ISI, and only when there was also a demand for LBG from other sectors. The scenarios corresponding to a more ambitious GHG mitigation policy did not achieve higher adoption of LBG, due to corresponding higher biomass prices. A CO2 charge exceeding 200 EUR/tonCO2 would be required to achieve a full phase-out of fossil fuels used for heating purposes in the ISI. We conclude that with the current policy situation, substitution of fossil fuels by LBG will not be economically feasible for the Swedish ISI.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Elsevier Ltd , 2020. Vol. 209, article id 112641
Keywords [en]
Biomass gasification, Biomethane, Energy market scenarios, Iron and steel industry, Process integration, Supply chain optimization, Carbon dioxide, Competition, Emission control, Fossil fuels, Gas emissions, Gasification, Greenhouse gases, Heating, Power markets, Reducing agents, Steelmaking, Supply chains
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-44448 DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2020.112641 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85080042583 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-44448 DiVA, id: diva2:1415121
Note Funding details: Energimyndigheten, 39740-1, 42194-1; Funding text 1: This work was carried out under the auspices of Forskarskola Energisystem, financed by the Swedish Energy Agency , Sweden (project No. 39740-1 ). Additional support from the Swedish Energy Agency , Sweden (project no. 42194-1 ) and from Bio4Energy , Sweden is also acknowledged.
2020-03-172020-03-172023-05-23 Bibliographically approved