Case studies on hydrogen produced from biomass – report by ITP Synergies

New publication by Inter-Task Project Synergies of Green Hydrogen and Biobased Value Chains looks into types of technologies for producing biomass-based hydrogen (so-called biohydrogen) and their respective technology readiness level. It provides a synthesized view on promising biomass technologies and the major drivers and barriers for their deployment. The descriptions of technologies and concepts – including 1) technology readiness and economic fundamentals and 2) climate effects and role in the energy system – are done through case studies.

The report shows that renewable, biomass-based hydrogen can be produced via several different conversion technologies, from a variety of biogenic feedstocks and in a wide capacity range. Feedstocks can be of

• Lower grades, such as wastewater, forestry and agricultural residues, which may improve the economic performance of a plant.
• Higher quality feedstock such as bioethanol and biomethane, which allows convenient feedstock distribution and storage.

Many of the biohydrogen production concepts also generate additional value-added commodities such as biochar, biocarbon, biomethane etc. This can add flexibility, resilience and likely also improved economic performance. Some of the concepts also generate a stream of CO2, what opens for opportunities to obtain negative CO2-emissions.

All the presented production concepts are still under development and none of them has reached commercialization. The presented concepts are in the TRL level range of 4-7.

A group of experts from the IEA Bioenergy Tasks 33, 36, 39 and 44 have compiled this work as outcome of the Work Package 2 of the ITP Synergies. WP2 has been coordinated by Task 33 with Prof. Joakim Lundgren.

Find the report here: “WP2 Report: Case studies on hydrogen produced from biomass”
Read more from the ITP Synergies subpage.