Integrating Carbon Negative Technologies in Industrial Clusters

Negative emission technologies (NETs) are an emerging innovation essential for tackling the climate crisis since decarbonization on its own will no longer suffice. While these technologies are crucial in limiting temperature rise by the end of the century, they bring their own set of unique feasibility and efficiency challenges. An innovative approach to overcoming these barriers is the development of eco-industrial parks (EIPs) or clusters, which can integrate several processes and technologies to achieve economic, environmental, and social benefits collectively. Furthermore, through the multiple interactions that can arise from exchanging resources and technical knowledge in these systems, technology spill overs can occur, allowing these parks to serve as a hub for process innovation. Thus, this work explores the integration of NETs into industrial clusters that can simultaneously exchange multiple resources over time. The multi-period model optimized network configurations for maximum net present value and determined park design across time. Two NETs, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), were integrated into a cluster to provide the carbon dioxide needed for methanol production, produced through either carbon hydrogenation or electrolysis. The optimization revealed that electrolysis required improved energy efficiency to compete with hydrogenation. Furthermore, significant reductions in capital costs are necessary for the NETs to become active in EIPs.