A new hydrogen production route through biomass gasification in a two-stage fixed bed reactor within the BECCS concept: A techno-economic and life cycle assessment study

Rabea, Karim; Michailos, Stavros; Hughes, Kevin J.; Ingham, Derek; Pourkashanian, Mohamed

Abstract

Hydrogen is projected to be a major contributor to the renewable and sustainable energy mix in the near future. Among the different routes of hydrogen production, the Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) approach has gained much interest in achieving a potential net-negative process. The concept is based on gasification and the commercial multi-stage gasifier has shown high competence in performance and syngas quality, outranking conventional designs. However, the economic feasibility and the environmental impact are yet to be thoroughly evaluated. To this direction, the current research is the first study to comprehensively assess the techno-economic and environmental performance of hydrogen production through gasification in an industrial scale 10 MWth two-stage gasifier within the BECCS concept; technical data has been generated through exhaustive process modelling.
Three different scenarios have been investigated, one without CCS and two with CCS, and different strategies for the electricity supply. The thermal efficiency of converting biomass to hydrogen lies in the range of 41.4–49.8 %. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) without CCS is 3.16 £/kg while employing the BECCS scenarios increases the LCOH to 4.17–5.40 £/kg. Monte Carlo simulations revealed that there is a 95 % confidence interval for the LCOH to be 2.88–4.32 £/kgH2 for the without CCS case and 3.82–8.06 £/kgH2 for the BECCS cases. It is worth noting that all scenarios are OPEX intensive with biomass feedstock and oxygen supply dominating the expenditures. The life cycle assessment (LCA) showed that the BECCS scenarios are net-negative technologies with a global warming potential (GWP) that lies between −14.7 and −21.3 4 kgCO2-eq/kg H2. Overall, the outcomes of the study can offer new and important information to conceptual engineering studies and inform policymakers about a promising net-negative hydrogen production technology.

Citation

Rabea, K., Michailos, S., Hughes, K. J., Ingham, D., & Pourkashanian, M. (2025). A new hydrogen production route through biomass gasification in a two-stage fixed bed reactor within the BECCS concept: A techno-economic and life cycle assessment study. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 124, 140-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.03.441

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 30, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Apr 7, 2025
• Publication Date: May 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Apr 9, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 8, 2026
• Journal: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
• Print ISSN: 0360-3199
• Electronic ISSN: 0360-3199
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 124
• Pages: 140-152
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.03.441
• Keywords: BECCS; Hydrogen; Two-stage gasifier; TEA/LCA; Monte Carlo
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5127436