Energy system transformations toward zero emissions: A focus on pyrolysis

• Pyrolysis power plants provide more cost-efficient, zero-emission energy systems. • Hydrogen demand is reduced by 69% in the presence of pyrolysis. • Pyrolysis strongly correlates with a 64% reduction in wind capacity. • Decreasing pyrolysis investment costs leads to a flexible usage of it. Renewables and flexibility technologies, together with negative emission technologies, will play an important role in achieving a decarbonised energy system. However, the impact of pyrolysis, a promising negative emission technology, remains underexplored in the energy system. Pyrolysis, which carbonizes biomass to produce biochar, oil, heat and/or electricity, offers a promising path to climate neutrality in the energy system. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by presenting a new, hourly-resolved model of the German energy system to evaluate the integration of pyrolysis in the whole energy system, focusing on cost-effective, zero-emission outcomes. The model reveals that pyrolysis, by the year 2045, enables lower cost decarbonization systems by adjusting the installation capacity and unit commitment of power plants, with biochar compensating for emissions. Additionally, the presence of pyrolysis reduces the need for hydrogen up to 69%, improving the overall system performance. Pyrolysis is used as a base-load technology at a capital cost of over 850 €/kW, and if the capital cost is reduced, it can transition to a flexibility technology. The results of this study indicate that pyrolysis, which is available on the market, integrates well into the energy system with a promising potential to help decarbonisation.