Economic Assessment of Three Biomass-Based Hydrogen Production Systems

  • Mehmet Kursad Cohce
  • Ibrahim Dincer
  • Marc A. Rosen
Chapter
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Abstract

The hydrogen economy is expected to become in the future a very significant part of the energy system for many countries, and hydrogen as a fuel will likely play an important role in the transition from fossil fuels to carbon-free and/or carbon-neutral fuels. Such a transition is directly related to hydrogen production costs. In this chapter, comprehensive economic evaluations and comparisons are reported for three simulated hydrogen production systems. The minimum hydrogen production costs are estimated for these three systems using process economic analysis software (Aspen Plus Icarus). It is found that the hydrogen production cost ranges between 1.28 and 1.78 $/kg for these three systems. The results of this investigation (1) are expected to help reduce reasonably hydrogen production costs by applying various scenarios for these three systems and (2) demonstrate hydrogen can be an economically feasible final product from biomass gasification. It is concluded that the costs of hydrogen production may be competitive in the future with the costs of the production of conventional fuels.

Keywords

Hydrogen Energy Biomass Economic assessment 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Ontario Research Excellence Fund and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Mehmet Kursad Cohce
    • 1
  • Ibrahim Dincer
    • 1
  • Marc A. Rosen
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT)OshawaCanada

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