Valorization of Biorefinery CO2 Emissions into E-fuels: A Techno-economic Analysis

In this research, the levelized cost of e-fuel was adopted as methodology, while DWSIM and HOMER Pro® software were employed as supporting tools to assess and the technical and economic performance of producing e-fuels (e-gasoline and e-jet/diesel fuel) via Reverse Water Gas Shift reaction followed by Fischer–Tropsch synthesis from renewable H2 and biogenic CO2 emissions. It was hypothesized that CO2 was obtained from a biorefinery located in Rome, Italy, in which used cooking oil are processed through hydrodeoxygenation to produce liquid biofuels. Results showed that 12839 kg/h of captured biogenic CO2 can be converted into 1635 kg/h of e-fuels, with a carbon efficiency of 12.7%. The process requires 1181 kg/h of H2 and significant installed capacities for its production, including 97 MW of electrolyzer, 171 MW of PV and 186 MW of Wind. The resulting levelized cost of e-fuels was 7.24 €/kg (9.05 €/L), significantly higher than fossil fuels. H2 accounts for approximately 88% of total costs, highlighting its critical role in process economics.