Carbon capture and conversion: a techno-economic and environmental assessment of electrochemical methanol production from CO₂ powered by a hybrid renewable system

This study presents a techno-economic assessment of a multigeneration system for CO₂ capture from a fossil fuel power plant and methanol production using renewable energy. The system, simulated in Aspen HYSYS, includes a CO₂ capture unit, a syngas production unit via CO₂/H₂O co-electrolysis, and a methanol production unit. Using methyldiethanolamine and piperazine (MDEA) solvent, more than 95% of CO₂ from the exhaust gas is captured and fed into the solid oxide electrolyzer cell. The system, partially powered by a hybrid solar-wind renewable energy source, produces 626,409 tons/year of methanol with 99.5% purity. Around 70% of the electricity required for compressors and pumps is supplied by the grid-connected renewable energy system. The overall energy efficiency is 45.40%, while CO₂ emissions reach 2.48 kg CO₂/kg MeOH due to the high energy demand of the electrolyzer and the solvent stripper columns re-boiler. Economic analysis estimates a production cost of 169 million USD/year, with a cost intensity of 0.253 USD/kg MeOH.

Citation

Mehrpooya, M., Mahmoudi, M., Mousavi, S.A. et al. (2026) Carbon Capture and Conversion: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Electrochemical Methanol Production from CO₂ Powered by a Hybrid Renewable System. Arab Journal For Science and Engineering, 51 (12), pp. 15141 - 15173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-025-11054-4

Type

Journal article

Language

en

Description

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer on 05/02/2026, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-025-11054-4 The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version.

ISSN

2193-567X

EISSN

2191-4281

Collections

Faculty of Science and Engineering