LCS-FY2017-PP-09
Production of Methanol and Liquid Fuels from Gasification of Biomass or Captured CO2
Summary
In the future, when the use of fossil fuels as a source of carbon will be restricted, biomass or captured CO2 will be powerful substitutes. We examined the problems and costs associated with the production of methanol and liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel from the gasification of biomass or captured CO2.
The cost of methanol production using gasified biomass was 75 ¥/kg (3.4 ¥/MJ), which is three times the current market price, taking the biomass price as 19 ¥/kg-dry. As much as 88% of this cost is from gasifying the biomass. The cost of liquid fuel production by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is as high as 5 ¥/MJ. It will be necessary to reduce the cost of biomass by further developing technology and systems, and thereby streamline logging.