The potential for electrofuels production in Sweden utilizing fossil and biogenic CO2 point sources

With our bottom-up approach using European databases, we find that Sweden emits approximately 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year from different types of point sources, with 65% (or about 32 million tons) from biogenic sources. The major sources are the pulp and paper industry (46%), heat and power production (23%), and waste treatment and incineration (8%). Most of the CO2 is emitted at low concentrations (
The electricity required would correspond to about 3 times the current Swedish electricity supply. The current relatively few emission sources with high concentrations of CO2 (>90%, biofuel operations) would yield electrofuels corresponding to approximately 2% of the current demand for transportation fuels (corresponding to 1.5–2 TWh/year). In a 2030 scenario with large-scale biofuels operations based on lignocellulosic feedstocks, the potential for electrofuels production from high-concentration sources increases to 8–11 TWh/year. Finally, renewable electricity and production costs, rather than CO2 supply, limit the potential for production of electrofuels in Sweden.

Highlights


• Sweden emits 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year from different types of point sources, the vast majority of which is emitted at low concentrations.


• Of this, 65% is from biogenic sources, most of which are located in southern Sweden.


• Currently, the high-concentration sources of CO2 in Sweden can provide a potential 1.5–2 TWh electrofuels/year (2% of current transportation demand).


• The Swedish potential for electrofuels is currently limited by the electricity required and production costs rather than the amount of recoverable CO2.

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