Biofuel production with CCS as a strategy for creating a CO2-neutral road transport sector

In this paper, three biofuel-producing processes with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) are studied: two (fermentation) ethanol processes and one process producing methanol (via gasification). In these processes CO2 is captured from streams which are relatively pure, i.e. the main impurity is water vapour which may be easily removed. Owing to this, the costs for CO2 capture, both in terms of economic cost and energy penalty, are very low and these processes could thus constitute some of the first instances where CCS is implemented. The paper highlights under which conditions biofuel production with CCS may create a CO2-neutral transport sector. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved