Using biomass as an energy source with low CO₂ emissions

This work deals with the carbon dioxide cycle and emissions from biomass incineration under a hydrogen production context. It is proposed to use the thermal energy obtained by biomass combustion to produce water steam, which afterwards would be converted into hydrogen by high temperature electrolysis (HTE). In France, the thermal energy potential from nonvalorised biomass reaches almost 6.5 Mtep. In this study, the potential avoided carbon emissions are quantified as well as the feasible hydrogen production capacity based on the steam supplied by the incineration units. Results show that carbon consumption in hydrogen production by steam methane reforming (SMR) or biomass incineration–HTE process is almost equivalent between both processes. However, the hydrogen produced by the biomass incineration–HTE process used to fuel vehicles, would lead to a decrease of 135 Mt of carbon from fossil origins yearly, in contrast to SMR.