Top 10 Non-fossil-fuel based Hydrogen Production Methods (Costs & Efficiency)

Top 10 Non-fossil-fuel based Hydrogen Production Methods (Costs & Efficiency)

✅ In this post, I have summarised the costs and efficiency of Non-fossil-fuel and fossil fuel-based energy sources for your reference.

🟦 a) Hydrogen (H2) production technology:
Hydrogen (H2) production technologies fall into four main categories, thermal, biological & thermochemical, electrolytic, and photolytic processes. Thermal processes use feedstocks like natural gas, coal, and biomass to release hydrogen, while thermochemical and biological processes use heat and microbes/fungi, respectively. Electrolytic processes use electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, while photolytic processes use light. However, photolytic processes are not yet viable for large-scale production.

Hydrogen production costs depend on fuel/electricity and carbon capture/storage for clean hydrogen.

🟦 b) Non-fossil-fuel based hydrogen generation, Energy Efficiency (%), Hydrogen yield (g/kg feedstock), Cost ($/kg of Hydrogen)

1- Water electrolysis → 55−80%, 111 g/kg, 4.15−10.30 $/kg
2- Water thermolysis → 20−50%, 111 g/kg, 7.98−8.40 $/kg
3- Water photoelectrolysis → 0.06−14%, 111 g/kg, 4.98−10.36 $/kg
4- Water biophotolysis → 10−15%, 111 g/kg, 1.42-2.13 $/kg
5- Biomass dark fermentation → 60−80%, 4-44 g/kg, 1.68−2.57 $/kg
6- Biomass photofermentation → 0.1−12%, 9-49 g/kg, 2.57-2.83 $/kg
7- Biomass pyrolysis → 35−50%, 25-65 g/kg, 1.59−2.20 $/kg
8- Biomass gasification → 30−60%, 40-190 g/kg, 1.77-2.05 $/kg
9- Biomass hydrothermal liquefaction → 85−90%, 0.3-2 g/kg, 0.54−1.26 $/kg
10- Biomass steam reforming → 74−85%, 40-130 g/kg, 1.83−2.35 $/kg

🟦 c) Recently, NETL conducted a baseline study to evaluate the performance of certain hydrogen production plants. The study focused on plants that use fossil fuels such as natural gas, steam methane reforming, autothermal reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, and coal/biomass co-gasification as their primary feedstocks.

NETL Fossil Fuel-based Hydrogen Plant Cases, Hydrogen Production Capacity and Levelised Cost of Hydrogen:

11- Natural Gas Steam Methane Reforming (0% CO2 Capture)→ 483,000 kg/day, $1.06/kg

12- Natural Gas Steam Methane Reforming (96.2% CO2 Capture)→ 483,000 kg/day, $1.54/kg

13- Natural Gas Autothermal Reforming Reforming (94.5% CO2 Capture) → 660,000 kg/day, $1.51/kg

14- Illinois No. 6 Coal, Shell/Air Products-type oxygen-blown, entrained flow gasification (0% CO2 Capture) → 660,000 kg/day, $2.58/kg

15- Illinois No. 6 Coal, Shell/Air Products-type oxygen-blown, entrained flow gasification (92.5% CO2 Capture) → 660,000 kg/day, $2.92/kg

16- Illinois No. 6 Coal/ Torrefied Woody Biomass, Shell/Air Products-type oxygen-blown, entrained flow gasification (92.6% CO2 Capture) → 133,000 kg/day, $3.44/kg

Autothermal reforming has better cost performance than steam methane reforming with CCS.

 

https://netl.doe.gov/research/carbon-management/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/technologies-hydrogen#:~:text=Thermal%20Processes%3A%20Thermal%20processes%20use,reforming%2C%20gasification%2C%20and%20pyrolysis

7.3. Technologies for Hydrogen Production