General Techno-Economic Analysis of CO2 Electrolysis Systems

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has received significant attention in academic research, although the techno-economic prospects of the technology for the large-scale production of chemicals are unclear. In this work, we briefly reviewed the current state-of-the-art CO₂ reduction figures of merit, and performed an economic analysis of a generalized CO₂ electrolyzer system for the production of 100 tons/day of various CO₂ reduction products. While carbon monoxide and formic acid were the most economically favorable products under current conditions, higher-order alcohols such as ethanol and n-propanol could be highly promising if reasonable electrocatalytic performance benchmarks were achieved. Furthermore, we established performance targets such that if these targets are achieved, electrochemical CO₂ reduction for fuels and chemicals production can become a profitable option as part of the growing renewable energy infrastructure.