Energy System Analysis of Solid Oxide Electrolysis cells for Synthetic Fuel Production

When restricting energy production to renewable energy sources, biomass, sun and wind energy are the pillars of 100% renewable energy system after implementing energy savings. Biomass resources are limited and the sustainable use of them needs to be prioritized. Future energy systems will require an efficient use of land and resources and low impacts on the environment, which is not a reflection of biomass based fuel production. Moreover the intermittency of most renewable energy sources typically does not match the demand, so flexible solutions that can provide an option for regulating the energy system by balancing and storing excess electricity is essential. One of the possible solutions is the use of electrolysers for the production of synthetic fuels based on carbon sources and hydrogen, providing a way to store electricity in the form of fuel that can be either used in other energy sectors that require high energy density fuels or reused for power generation. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of fuel production cost for two types of synthetic fuels – methanol and methane, and comparable costs of biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas.