A comparative cost and qualitative analysis for the transportation of green energy carriers
article
Green energy carriers play a pivotal role in the transition towards the pervasive use of variable renewable electricity, as they allow for efficient storage, transportation, and utilization of excess electricity generated in specific regions and/or over different time frames. In this paper, we analyze the cost optimality of transporting eight liquid or gaseous green energy carriers, including H2, via pipelines and shipping, over distances from 250 to 3000 km. To provide a more comprehensive deployability evaluation beyond purely cost-based criteria, we introduce several novel concepts that allow comparing green energy carriers on the basis of safety, applicability, and end-use characteristics. Our study reveals that H2 exhibits significantly higher costs compared to other energy carriers across both transportation modes. For a pipeline and shipping distance of 250 km, we calculate H2 transportation costs of 1.4 and 8.1 mV per PJ, respectively, while for alternative carriers costs range from 0.1 to 0.7 and 0.2 to 3.1 mV per PJ. For a distance of 3000 km, H2 transportation costs through pipeline and shipping are estimated at 18.6 and 10.3 mV per PJ, respectively, whereas for alternative carriers the cost ranges from 1.2 to 7.6 and 0.3 to 4.0 mV per PJ. An integration of additional selection criteria, however, implies that the practical deployability differs significantly across different green energy carriers, and that no one-to-one relationship exists between deployability and transportation costs.
Topics
TNO Identifier
1023435
Source
Sustainable Energy & Fuels(9), pp. 1773-1785.
Pages
1773-1785
Files
To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Repository.