Production of Hydrogen from Biomass with Negative CO 2 Emissions Using a Commercial-Scale Fluidized Bed Gasifier

Biomass gasification, as a thermochemical method, has attracted interest due to the growing popularity of biofuel production using syngas or pure hydrogen. Additionally, this hydrogen production method, when integrated with CO 2 capture, may have negative CO 2 emissions, which makes this process competitive with electrolysis and coal gasification. This article presents the results of process and economic analyses of a hydrogen production system integrated with a commercial, fluidized-bed solid fuel gasification reactor (SES technology—Synthesis Energy Systems). With the use of a single gasification unit with a capacity of 60 t/h of raw biomass, the system produces between 72.5 and 78.4 t/d of hydrogen depending on the configuration considered. Additionally, assuming the CO 2 emission neutrality of biomass processing, the application of CO 2 capture leads to negative CO 2 emissions. This allows for obtaining additional revenue from the sale of CO 2 emission allowances, which can significantly reduce the costs of hydrogen production. In this analysis, the breakthrough price for CO 2 emissions, above which the hydrogen production costs are negative, is USD 240/t CO 2 .