Prospects for sustainable Danish ammonia or methanol production as part of a future hydrogen society

Methanol and ammonia based on biomass may become highly attractive in a future hydrogen system. Methanol can be produced from biomass with total efficiency of 50%. The same number cannot be reached for ammonia. A crucial factor for production is considerable energy and process integration. Through a number of studies of natural gas-based methanol and ammonia, Weel & Sandvig demonstrated that energy consumption can be reduced by 10-15%. This study showed that the electrical output from a methanol concept can be increased by 40% simply by improving energy integration.