Climate and environmental effects of the manufacture of PtGLS products and technical measures for mitigation : within the research project: Criteria for the sustainable provision and climate-friendly integration of electricity-based energy sources : interim report / by Thomas Fröhlich, Axel Liebich, Sabrina Ludmann, Daniel Münter, Marian Rosental, Clemens Wingenbach (ifeu - Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg gGmbH, Heidelberg) ; on behalf of the German Environment Agency ; edited by: Section V 1.2 - Strategies and Scenarios for Climate and Energy - Reinhard Schulz-Herbener, Maximilian Pagel

Abstract

Life cycle analyses (LCA) were conducted for 56 production pathways for hydrogen (green, blue, turquoise), ammonia, methane, methanol, dimethyl ether (DME) and Fischer-Tropsch products, supplemented by 12 target scenarios for optimized future technologies.

In most cases, the electricity-based production paths have significant climate advantages over fossil references – provided that the entire process chain is operated with renewable electricity. In other environmental categories (e.g. acidification, eutrophication, land use) higher loads may occur. The choice of power source (wind, PV) and transportation options (pipeline, ship, ammonia, LOHC) significantly influence the environmental impact.