Scenario Analysis of Carbon Capture, Utilization (Particularly Producing Methane and Methanol), and Storage (CCUS) Systems

Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) supply chains are expected to play an important role in the near future for greenhouse gas reduction. Reuse by chemical transformation has become an important way of reducing emissions, and this study explores this as an option. A more complete and realistic objective function than in previous studies is considered and minimized to determine optimal designs for CCUS systems. The objective function consists of remission of an element of carbon tax, economic incentives, and revenues subtracted from total supply chain costs. Carbon supply chains were analyzed for Italy and Germany. In the first case, the captured carbon dioxide is stored and used to produce methane, whereas, in the second case, the captured carbon dioxide is stored and used to produce methanol in one case, and more products in another case. The most significant values of cost parameters for the market prevailing in recent years are considered in a sensitivity analysis. Results show that the carbon tax influences only the total value of the objective function value, while economic incentives and revenues have a significant effect also on the topology of the supply chain. Model optimization is a useful decision support tool for CCUS supply chain design and related investment decisions.