不同电力组合对 Power-to-Methanol 生产碳足迹的影响

Driven by the imperative for low-carbon transition in the energy and chemical industries, the systematic evaluation of the carbon reduction potential of Power-to-Methanol (PtM) technology has emerged as a critical research topic. By analyzing how different electricity mixes on the life-cycle carbon footprint of PtM systems, the contribution of renewable electricity to emissions reduction could be quantified, and identifies technical pathways compliant with EU carbon standards. Based on the LCA method, a carbon footprint model for PtM was constructed, incorporating a case study of a 150 000 t annual capacity PtM project and employing scenario analysis to compare four technological pathways in China —coal power-dominated (G-PtM), wind power (W-PtM), photovoltaic power (PV-PtM), and integrated supply power (IS-PtM) —with a focus on analyzing the synergistic carbon emission effects between different power combinations and each PtM system units. The results demonstrated that the G-PtM scenario exhibited a carbon footprint of 5.12 tCO₂e·t⁻¹ methanol, with electricity contributing 83.42% of emissions. W-PtM and PV-PtM scenarios achieved negative carbon emissions, with electricity's contribution reduced to 3.25% and 2.1% respectively. In the IS-PtM scenario, when the proportion of renewable power used in the synthesis unit increases to 75%, the carbon footprint decreased to 0.56 tCO₂e·t⁻¹, meeting EU export standards. Furthermore, if 100% renewable power was utilized in the carbon capture unit, the renewable power requirement for the synthesis unit could be reduced to 73%. This study revealed that decarbonization of electricity could enables PtM to achieve a transformative shift from carbon sources to net carbon removal. The findings provide data support for the industrial deployment of PtM and the formulation of related policies.